


Cold Comfort

by arjasmo



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-01 01:45:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6496006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arjasmo/pseuds/arjasmo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were a good team; a team that seemed to be dancing closer by the day. When they land to observe the “flash spring” on Xalta 5 it seems like closeness, and perhaps more, is inevitable. But then comes the rumble and then the thunder of an avalanche and then nothing. Now Rose is alone, the Doctor is very ill, they are in a frozen foreign land with no resources and yet plenty natural predators.  Can she save him?  Better yet can she survive herself? And why did he keep mentioning “snuggling”?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my little story. I had it rattling around in my head for a while before it came out. I went with the theme of “cold”. Who knows I may have been cold at the moment. This is a completed story, so I will post frequently. Expect updates most likely once a week-ish because the chapters are pretty big. I really appreciate reviews though, not only do they make me happy… well mostly because they make me happy. I also will be posting on tumblr under arjasmo.

The Doctor danced around the console. Pulling this, pushing that and twirling something else. Rose sat on the jump seat with a bemused face watching him. She let her feet hang, kicking them absentmindedly. "Really Doctor, who goes ice camping? It doesn't sound fun at all. I mean, it’s cold and there can’t be much to see. Who does that?"

"We do! Oh don't be a baby Rose, this is a once in a lifetime experience, well at least for you it is. The flash spring of Xalta 5 is truly one of the universe's great phenomena. It has a horribly hard winter then just when you think you can't endure any more, then BOOM you wake up and spring has sprung. Over the next week everything melts and the whole planet comes to life. Then of course on the other end, about six Earth months' time later, winter falls just as hard. It's a sight to see."

"So tell me this," said Rose, now joining him at the console, "did you get it right? Will it change when we get there, or do we just freeze for a week and nothing happens?"

"Oh it's a bit dodgy, but I think I have it. Anyway if we miss, we will just have to snuggle closer until the weather turns." With the word "snuggle" he bumped shoulders with her. Rose froze and turned decidedly redder, although as per the usual he didn't notice. Instead he ran around to the other side and flipped another switch. 

"There!" the Doctor exclaimed as the TARDIS thumped down. "Now let's take a look shall we?" He ran over and grabbed Rose's hand, dragging her to the doors, which he opened with a flourish. 

Before them was a true storybook winter. In the distance there were high craggy but snow covered mountains. They were looking out onto a frozen valley. The trees were white as well as the tall field grass. Nothing moved. A wide river of ice cut through the center of it all. Everything was blanketed. What struck Rose the most was the silence. Nothing stirred. Even when a breeze blew past her, making her shiver, the trees and grass stayed stationary. 

"See," the Doctor whispered as if not to disturb the landscape, “isn’t it brilliant? In a day or so this will be full of life and vibrant colors. "

"It's beautiful; I can't wait to see everything turn." Rose bounced a little up and down. His excitement was infectious.

He closed the doors quietly and took her hand again. "I have our things all packed. All you have to pack is your pants, shirts and ah..."

"Unmentionables?"

"Yeah, those. Come on Rose, there are adventures to be had!" With that he ran off back into the bowels of the TARDIS, pulling her along. 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

After about a half hour and lunch (Rose had insisted on eating before they left) they set off. Everything they needed was tucked into two packs, which, of course, were bigger on the inside. The Doctor had outfitted them both with winter parkas, pants and boots that were good for hiking. They both donned the parkas and boots, leaving the pants to play in the snow with. He bounded gleefully along; pointing out this and that and what to watch for when spring came. 

Rose dutifully watched him and listened. He knew loads about this planet. She was about to ask how he knew so much before he ran off again. Perhaps it would be a good idea to wait anyway until he volunteered the information. That way he could avoid the subject if something bad had happened at his last visit. 

"Rose over here!" he called. They had walked a good distance from the TARDIS, which was resting on a ridge overlooking the river. He was calling from the base of a slope, a little higher up than where she was in the valley. When she joined him he turned her to face the valley. "This is the best vantage point. We’ll set up here. It's going to be magnificent." He grinned widely at her. 

Rose decided the setup of camp, just knowing how much stuff he had packed. To her amazement though, he had the tent out and set up in no time. Before she knew it everything was in its place. He had two beds with fluffy duvets, a little sitting area and a small kitchen complete with food and dishes all set up in the tent itself. Outside he had set up an area with a fire pit and set chairs next to each other facing the view. All he would have to do is start the fire. He fiddled with his sonic and a little pile of dry brush that quickly caught fire. He smothered it with dirt and smiled at Rose. 

"All done!" he enthused clapping his hands dramatically. "Are you ready for your camping experience Rose Tyler?"

"Oh yes!" She hugged him. "So what do we do first?"

"Well I think we should look around a little, you know, get the lay of the land. Then we'll come back and cook some dinner. Then snuggle by the fire." He waggled his eyebrows at her. 

"Snuggle?" she asked, biting her thumbnail.

"Why yes, isn't that what you’re supposed to do by the fire?" His grin hadn't changed, he was positively beaming. "But first let's explore!"

“Hold up, it’s not like I don’t trust you, but I’m packing a bag just in case. You never know.” The Doctor pouted a little as she stuffed water bottles, some packages of dried fruit, animal crackers, biscuits and a compact blanket (that the Doctor swore expanded to human size when exposed to air) into a bright red sling bag. 

He eyed her warily while she packed. When she zipped up the bag and slung it over her shoulder she aimed a brilliant smile at him. “Now I’m ready.” she said. 

“Were you some sort of scout? You know, always prepared and all that?” 

“No, but I’m careful. What if we get stuck somewhere? What if I get thirsty? Don’t laugh at me!”

The Doctor quickly covered his mouth, but his eyes still danced as he shook with giggles. He held out his hand and with wiggling fingers beckoned her to take his hand. With that they headed off along the upper edge of the valley. 

The Doctor soon launched into another lecture on the local flora and fauna, showing her plants and animals as they went. Of course he had to describe history of the planet too. Suddenly though, he crouched down and motioned for her to do the same. With a low voice he spoke pointing across the valley. When Rose followed his finger she saw a mother bear, or something like it, lumbering along between the trees. Scampering along between her legs and under her was a little cub. He jumped around and his mother playfully pushed him with her head. “Oh look at him! He’s so cute! “Rose whispered.

“They’re called Mityrs here, but they are very close to bears. The mama can smell spring coming. She might have missed it by a day or two, but she’s a good indicator that it is close. If you look hard you can see that they have opposable thumbs like us. It makes picking up bugs and berries easier. “

Rose took in the sight, chuckling when the cub rolled down a little hill, jumped up and scurried back to his mother. He was shaped like a bear, shaggy, with leopard spots all over. His mother looked about the same, though her spots blended better with her coat. She also had a longer nose than her offspring. She looked tolerant of the baby’s antics, nudging him here or there, but letting him come in for a quick cuddle every few minutes. 

The Doctor and Rose watched the two until they headed towards the river and disappeared behind some trees. The Doctor stood. ”I’m glad you got to see them. The cubs that are that small sleep almost 20 hours a day. She’ll be taking him back to the cave soon to sleep. Then she’ll probably go fishing. That’s a sight to be seen. She’ll move a large rock and roll it down a hill to the river where it will break the ice, then she’ll just pluck out some fish.”

“How can you possibly know all this?” Rose asked, standing. 

The Doctor tapped his head. “I've been around a long time Rose Tyler. There is a lot up here. Luckily for you I only give you the highlights. " 

Rose laughed out loud. "If you didn't would you ever stop talking?"

"I don't imagine so." the Doctor laughed back. 

He took her hand again and they started into the valley. When they were about half way down the path, they started to hear a low rumble in the distance. They both looked around but there wasn't much to see, but the noise quickly got louder and the ground begin to shake. The Doctor hopped up on a rock and stuck his nose in the air, but seemed to come up with nothing. “Hmm.” He hummed. Then as if an idea hit him, the Doctor gasped. Without explanation squeezed her hand hard and pulled. "Run!" he yelled. Just as he did the volume of the noise rose to the sound of a freight train. They dashed towards some trees, Rose still was totally at a loss, not knowing what was happening. Her lungs ached with the cold air and the sudden exertion. Just before they made it to what she assumed was their destination, a wall of snow crashed into a line of tress just above them. It struck the trees, breaking them in half and came shooting out. That’s when Rose realized that she was being pulled from an avalanche. 

There was no time to react it hit them right after that and the world went black. There was tumbling, pain, more tumbling. Something clung around Rose's body so tight she could barely breathe. It was warm though, very warm. As she tumbled, things hit Rose in any area that wasn't covered, her head mostly. She was taking quite a beating. All she could think to do was wrap her arms around her head and pray that she made it through. It hurt, so much, but she was warm, mostly. She had no thought other that abject fear and wondering if this was it, the end of her. 

After an eternity it stopped and was still. Everything was black around her. There was no way to tell where she was, or even which way was up. Slowly she moved all her limbs against the snow. Everything ached, especially her left shoulder, it must have been wrenched in the fall. She was on something warm and soft but couldn’t see yet. Not knowing which way was out, she went against gravity and stuck her right hand up as far as it would go. To her utter surprise, it popped out of the snow about two feet above her head. As fast as she could she started to dig out. It wasn’t all snow in the way, there were rocks and branches mixed up in the too. Digging through the snow was painful and her hands hurt badly as she worked. Soon they went numb, which made for more quick work, though she broke all of her fingernails and tore her hands open in the process. Eventually she could almost stand on the soft thing under her and then was able to see rays of sunshine. She screamed in happiness as she cleared more, finally making enough space to be able to make a foothold on a branch and climb out. 

Ignoring the bloody streaks she made in the digging process, Rose pulled herself up rim and settled on the side of the hole. She had only been two feet under as she had suspected. She looked around, trying to gauge where she was. "DOCTOR!!!" she yelled, then instantly regretted it as she heard another rumble, this one more distant. She clapped her hand over her mouth. That was stupid. Looking around, she tried to gauge where she was. It looked like she had been taken farther into the valley. One thing for sure, there was no sign of the Doctor anywhere. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad. He may have escaped, which was good, but he may also be under the snow. That terrified her. 

Sitting on the edge of the hole she looked around. It was hard not to appreciate the beauty of it all, so white, so serene. Her eyes fell into the hole which was dark now. In fact the whole scenery was bathed in flat light, due to cloud cover. Then just as she thought about the sun coming out, it did and she had a much clearer view, including into her so recently escaped prison.

As she glanced below her, something brown caught her eye. She leaned in, trying to adjust her eyes, when a cold chill enveloped her. That brown was the Doctor. The warm soft thing that she had landed on, and embarrassingly stepped all over in the dark was him, and he was unconscious.  
"Doctor!" she screamed and was again awarded with another rumble from somewhere. She clamored back down to him. Oddly he was warm to the touch. He was never warm, he was always cool, that was different. 

Now down next to him the shook him. "Doctor! Hey!" she called, hoping against hope to get any kind, of reaction. The fact that he could actually be gone crept up and hit her like a bat to the head. She just shook him harder, trying in vain not to cry. "Please, Doctor, no, not again." Then another thought invaded her already brittle mind. What if he died and couldn't regenerate? He had told her long ago that that was always a possibility. 

She grabbed him again and pulled him to her chest. He was actually cooler than when she had touched him just moments before. As she hugged him tight, now sobbing at him possibly being dead, he let out a very slow, very low moan into her ear. 

"Doctor? Are you OK?" she asked in a rush holding him back a little. But that was all she got, a moan. It was enough though, enough to know he was there. Carefully she laid him back and set about feeling him all over for injury. Nothing seemed obviously broken, even his head, which she looked the closest at. For some reason he was out though, but for now that was going to have to be a mystery. He didn't react at all when she assessed him, not even when she squeezed hard. 

Next Rose looked up out of the hole. Initially if hadn't looked like a far way out, but now having to pull someone up it, it looked like a kilometer. 

She climbed out again, reinforcing her hand and foot holds along the way. Once out she found a sturdy tree branch to use as a shovel. After breaking off the branches she went about making the hole bigger and trying to create a ramp of sorts. 

Sometime later, dripping in sweat despite the quickly plummeting temperatures, she finished. The result was an expanded hole with a way to drag him out. Fighting the exhaustion creeping in, Rose climbed back in to the Doctor. 

Carefully taking off his parka, she tied the sleeves securely around his chest and used the length to grab onto. She knew that taking the coat off would make him colder, but hopefully in the long run he would do better. That was, if she could get him out. 

For the next half hour Rose tugged and slid, fell and pulled until she got him to the surface. Collapsing and leaning onto him, she could feel that he had gotten even colder, now almost frigid. His face was pale but not deathly. Somehow he still had some color in his cheeks. She stuffed him back into his parka, and in the process held him again, this time she had better means to do it. It was like hugging a giant ice cube. It actually felt good considering the amount of work she had just done. Holding him close for a few minutes helped her too even though he wasn't awake. At least she knew he was still there and that staved off the loneliness. 

To her surprise he started to moan again. His mouth was right by her ear when it happened. She held him a little tighter as a reflex. Then the moan morphed into words… just two. "So cold," he said, in not even a whisper. 

"I'll get you Doctor”, she replied, trying to suppress the fear out of her voice, and not succeeding. 

Not wanting to leave him, but knowing it was his only chance, she pulled him off the snow to a spot near a tree that was barer. He didn’t move any more, but rather looked serene though. Sighing, she went about collecting branches.

One advantage of an avalanche is that there is a lot of small trees and branches scattered about. It didn't take long to accumulate two long sturdy trees, branches and strong looking weeds to make a travois. Making it, however, was slow going. It was getting darker, shadows lengthening ominously as she plugged along attaching trees and branches together. Every aching muscle in her body screamed for her to stop, but she had to get him out of here to at least relative safety. Right here there were too exposed. 

Finally, as the sun started to dip below the horizon, Rose dragged her contraption up to the Doctor and rolled him onto it. He was still very much dead weight. He didn't respond at all when she loaded him up. No groans, no nothing. Before securing him to the device she put her head to his chest. The dull thudding of his dual hearts was there, slow and weak, but still there.

With that Rose shucked her own parka and tied her sleeves under his arms, attaching him to the travois. The rig was a little short for him, and his feet would drag, but it worked none the less. 

Rose stood and looked around for a minute. How had they survived the avalanche? It seemed unlikely, yet there she stood. Where was their camp anyway? The stuff may must be somewhere under the snow. She made a mental note to come back in the daylight to see if anything was uncovered. At this point she would take anything. 

Still not believing that she had survived such a normally horrific event, she peeked down into the hole again. It had smooth edges where she had been on top of him, almost like they had melted themselves a cave. Impossible, she thought. Then something caught her eye. It was a little shred of bright red fabric that would have been under the Doctor. That’s why she didn't see it before. Carefully she lowered herself back into the hole. Rose took hold of the fabric and pulled, it came free, not attached to anything else. Rose sighed, that would have been too easy. Her hopes of finding the bag she packed were too high. On second thought, though, Rose dug around a little and lo and behold, she came up with the rest of the torn pack. Feeling around more in the now loose snow Rose came up with a water bottle, then another. The second one was empty due to a hole at the top. Encouraged, Rose dug more eagerly. She was rewarded with the package of animal crackers and one of dried fruit. The last thing she felt was soft... one of the blankets maybe?

Carefully she pulled it out of the snow. It was the blanket! It must have come out of its case. It was bigger, but torn also. It was now barely a metre long and about half that wide, with a ragged edge. It would have to do. She put the blanket around her neck tossed the rest out of the hole. 

Rose quickly climbed out and jogged back over to the Doctor, revitalized by her new treasure. She tucked the items she found into her parka pockets, at least the ones she could get to. 

Bending down and holding on to her tree trunk handles, Rose lifted the rig holding the still unconscious Doctor. When she was standing, she lifted his head and could feel his weight again. Coupled with her exhaustion shoulder pain and general aches, it was literally staggering. Her first steps were just that to. She fell to her knees more than once just trying to get him moving. Then slowly, one shaky step at a time, she pulled him along. 

Now where to go? Currently they were in the middle of giant snow field. Trees were broken all around. What if there was another avalanche? The thought of that was chilling. 

Rose's eyes were drawn to a stand of trees about a hundred yards away. There were a lot of downed trees in the area, maybe the leftovers from another slide. The trees looked like they might be a natural barrier from further onslaughts should they happen. 

Setting her mind Rose stepped off again, dragging the Doctor behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: Thanks for reading. Today’s challenge: action words. I had a lot of fun writing all this with little dialog. I hope that what was in my head transferred to the page. That’s always how it is, isn’t it? Please let me know what you think! It’s not that I crave the attention, but I need you to tell me if I am actually on track.

Chapter 2

Roughly an hour later an exhausted, bloody and wet Rose stopped in the little clearing she had seen. She had drug the Doctor probably 200 metres. She set the Doctor down as gently as she could and shook out her hands. They were torn and blistered from hoisting the trees and pulling him along. Pulling him had been rough too, as there were huge mud puddles and snow along the way. She would quickly become bogged down and have to pull harder. Looking back she thought it nothing short of a miracle she made it at all. 

Now surveying her surroundings, Rose could see why this place looked so appealing. The fallen trees made a natural barrier for avalanche because smaller logs had come down and been stopped by larger trees, forming a wall. Then it looked like smaller branches and things been forced up over the top, covering the whole place, almost forming a cave. Just standing in it Rose would feel that the wind had diminished significantly. 

She pulled the Doctor in and set down against the farthest point, flopping down next to him. Night was closing in and she knew it. Soon it would be pitch black and colder. Night also meant that the associated fauna would come out to hunt. This was the last thing she wanted to be: dinner. 

Willing herself to her feet and looking back down at him she started to hunt for firewood. 

OoOoOo

Soon enough Rose had amassed a large pile of brush and branches. It wasn’t hard as the forces that had created their shelter had also dropped a lot of detritus in the area. She piled it high in the clearing for easy gathering. 

Next Rose headed over to the still unconscious Doctor and released him from the travois. She spread the torn blanket down onto the ground and rolled him onto it. This way he was on his side facing the opening of the shelter. In doing so she also checked his pockets until she came up with the sonic. He hadn't used it that she had seen, so there was a chance... 

She pulled up some dry grass and made a pile just a few feet out of the shelter. Then she selected some small dry sticks to tent over it. Then carefully aiming the sonic at the grass she pressed the button. After a few seconds of rhythmic humming the grass lit up. Rose jumped a little when it did but quickly began adding kindling to it. Soon she had a roaring fire going. The smoke escaped easily, carried by a breeze outside. It was also nice to feel the warm radiating heat. But the zone that was warmed only mildly included where the Doctor was. Looking around Rose had an idea, she gathered big, melon sized rocks and put them near the fire, warming them. 

After about a half hour of bustling about, checking on the Doctor and taking the water and food out of her jacket and such, Rose went about moving the now hot rocks to the Doctor's side. She only burned a little bit of one finger in the process of kicking them near him, then digging them in under the blanket. When she was done, she could see him actually slowly lean to be closer to them. 

Seeing him move was more reassuring than she thought, even though his eyes remained closed. But maybe he would be ok. Of course he still was like ice to the touch. His breathing rate was very slow now too. She knew he had respiratory bypass, but wasn't sure how it worked. Thinking about it, she didn't know how he worked either. He was a complete mystery in that sense. He could be dying and she would never know. Worse than that, she didn't even know what to look for. There was no way to tell what was normal and what was his body in distress. They had never talked about it. He never talked about himself really anyway, other than what she had observed and asked about. He had given an explanation once about why his skin temperature was normally lower than hers, but honestly it was a while ago and he had soon went on a tangent about this or that and may not have actually answered the question. 

She glanced back at him. Wouldn't he regenerate if he was really bad? But maybe something about the cold kept that from happening. The thought that this could possibly be the end for him became a reality at that moment. Then she would be not only without him, but alone on an uninhabited planet. On top of that she had no idea where the TARDIS was and if it was safe. 

As fear and doubt crept in, Rose felt her chest constrict and suddenly there wasn't enough air in the shelter. She jumped to her feet and ran out the opening into the night. She stopped short at the edge of the firelight, gripped by the bitter cold that waited just outside. She stood there, recovering for a few moments, lungs burning with the intake of cold air. 

Then, ever so quietly and a little distance behind her, behind her she heard something; a rustling? No, it was a groan. Rose gasped and ran back in to the sight of the Doctor, eyes open, taking in his surroundings. He was otherwise expressionless, but his eyes were moving all over. Nothing else moved on his body though. Upon seeing her, the smallest of smiles, more like a quirk of the mouth really, appeared. 

Rose knelt next to him, afraid to touch in case he was broken. 

"Doctor! Are you OK? I thought you might be dying. What's wrong, are you hurt?"

His response was so quiet she had to lean almost until her ear was on his lips. "I... used ... my body... to keep you warm." His speech was very low, very slow and drawn out. It almost didn't even sound like him. 

"Was it you that held me during the avalanche? You saved my life." she gushed. "But are you injured?"

"No... my...met...abolism is...shot." He closed his eyes and breathed out.

"Doctor? What can I do?" Rose shook him gently. 

Slowly his eyes opened a little but not fully. "I need... to...let my body warm… and... sleep. I'll be OK in..." he trailed off again. 

"Doctor? When? Can you stay with me? Please? I don't know what to do to help you." She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. To her shock, his hand lifted and pushed her back. There was no strength behind it, but she could tell what he was going for and eased off him. 

His eyes remained closed. "No... Rose... no hugs. I'll freeze you. I ... need to sleep... keep…me warm."

Rose was crying now. Seeing him like this was horrific. He could barely form a sentence. "Will you be alright?"

He quirked another tiny smile, but kept his eyes shut. "I'm always alright." With that he fell back asleep. 

OoOoOo

Rose leaned back against the fallen logs outside the shelter. The fire crackled just feet from her, but she didn't share its enthusiasm. In a different circumstance her surroundings would be gorgeous and awe inspiring. Now they were just frightening and lonely. The Doctor hadn't told her how long it would take him to recover. What if it was weeks? She had no permanent shelter, no food beyond little snack bags, and no way to keep him, or herself for that matter, warm for any length of time. 

The more she wracked her brain, the more fear rang back. There was no way, no way that she could survive without him. The team was down a key player, unfortunately also, he was the one with all the tools and know how. Rose hadn't even camped in her lifetime. Oh sure people talked about it, but her mother's idea of camping was going somewhere with a balcony facing the woods. That too had never happened though. Her life beyond the estate had all come from her time with the Doctor. 

The cold was creeping in now. Rose stoked the fire and added logs, but it seemed to do nothing for the cold on the inside. She sat again, but tucked her feet under her, hoping to not let the cold seep in from the ground. It was only minimally helpful. She put her parka back on but it didn't seem to help at all, even with the hood up. She could see her breath too with every exhalation. 

She was surrounded by cold, it was everywhere, including inside. She didn't dare move in case it would possible stir up lower temperatures. There she sat, arms wrapped tightly around her chest, shivering against the night, for all intents and purposes alone. He couldn't save her, not now, maybe not for a long time and that made the cold seem even harsher, heavier on her shoulders. Tears streamed down her cheeks, followed by swallowed sobs. 

OoOoOo  
Somehow even though she was sitting straight up on the cold ground, Rose must have dosed off. She was shocked awake by the ear splitting sounds of howling and barking. They were close whatever they were. Then as she got to her feet to stoke the now only glowing fire, the noises got very close. Something or rather some THINGS were out there, but it was too dark for Rose to see anything. Quickly she threw brush and grass on the fire, making it flare up, hoping to light up the area and get a good look at what was happening and scare whatever it was away. 

There was a loud rustle in the trees to her right and the sound of breaking branches. Rose spun around and tensed, suddenly feeling very unarmed. Whatever it was was coming out. She stepped behind the fire, looking in vain for something to use as a weapon. Finally she stooped down and grabbed a rock about the size of a baseball. 

The rustling got louder, and Rose gripped the rock tighter, ready to pummel whatever was about to emerge. At the very least she hoped to bean it on the head and scare it away. Either way the louder the noise got the more her fear gripped her. As the bush began to visibly shake and Rose took a step back ready to defend herself. Then the brush parted, but instead of a large animal popping out, the little bear cub she saw earlier squeezed itself out of a hole. Its eyes were wild and it was clearly panicked as it landed in the clearing. Behind it she could hear swiftly approaching attackers crashing their way in. The bear ran around the fire and huddled behind her as she reached into the fire and grabbed the end of the last ignited log. Then, holding it over her head, she waited. The bear made little crying sounds behind her as it cowered. 

A second later an enormous wolf like creature burst through the hole the bear had come through, smashing a much bigger opening. Splintered branches rained down as it landed, breathing heavily yet stopping short at the sight of the fire. It was soon joined by two other animals of similar size, which flanked it. When they caught sight of Rose they all began to growl menacingly. 

Rose waved the log in her hand around, swooping and jabbing at them, making each retreat a little. Next she bent down, eyes on the enormous beast in front of her, switched the log to her left hand and tried to scoop up the bear with her right. It in turn bit her soundly on the right hand as she tried to grab it. 

She dropped it and screamed in pain and the little bear scurried into the shelter. Rose had a fleeting fear for the Doctor, but the wolves moving in closer made the thought leave quickly. 

She waved the log at each as they jumped forward and back, teeth bared growling and barking. All she could see was teeth and raised hackles, but they smelled too, a deep musky odor similar to skunk spray. It made her eyes water but she kept on. 

Rose knew she was outnumbered and out sized. They were just waiting on their chance to strike. It was only moments away.

As a last ditch effort she turned and reached for one of the tufts of grass she had dropped on the coals. The closest wolf lunged and as he did, Rose threw it at him, hitting him square in the face and igniting the fur on his face and neck. He howled in pain and bit out at her, narrowly missing her. Then he turned and ran off into the night. A few more swishes with the log in her hand and the other two followed suit, backing up staring at her then turning tail and disappearing into the darkness. 

Suddenly it was very quiet. The only sound was the crackling of the fire. Rose looked around, suddenly feeling very exposed. Animals could attack from any angle. Rose realized that her only defense now was the fire, and hurriedly threw everything she could on it, making the flames grow to ten feet high. Even the sudden warmth didn’t make her feeling of helplessness subside. She stared into the flames running over everything that had just transpired. 

A particularly loud snap of the burning wood brought her back to the present and she remembered the little bear and the Doctor. There was no way he could have slept through all this. She ran back in, but to her utter surprise, he was still out cold. This time though, he had a little cub snuggled up to his side. The little guy was breathing heavily and kept a wary eye on Rose, but didn't move. 

Rose could see where he was and smiled. He had centered himself right on top of where she had buried one of the hot rocks. The ground must be warmer there, she mused. 

She looked down at her hand. The bear had quite a bite. He had deeply pierced the webbing between her thumb and first finger, but the bleeding had stopped. She figured it was because her hands had been so cold. It would need a dressing, but she had nothing now, and pulled down her sleeve to cover it. 

Next she fished out the dried fruit package from her pocket. She carefully opened the bag just a little bit and pulled out a piece. Slowly she leaned forward and placed it in front of the bear's nose. He sniffed it and jumped back. Then he moved forward ever so slightly again and smelled it again. With movement almost too fast to see, he snatched up the piece put it in his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing. Then he hopped to his feet and advanced on Rose. 

Still wary from the biting incident, Rose got on her knees and took out another piece, dropping it before him. He sniffed it briefly too and gobbled it up, bouncing in place wanting more. This went on until she had fed him eight pieces when he lost interest and went about sniffing the shelter, including the sleeping Doctor. Then, just like a dog would do, it circled in place at the Doctor's side and plopped down right where he had been before. Within seconds he exhaled loudly and closed his eyes. 

The Doctor shifted just a little in his sleep closer to the warm body that had deposited itself next to him. Rose smiled to herself at the scene unfolding before her. It occurred to there that normally this would have been the perfect time for a picture. Not now though, not just for the absence of a camera, but for the fact that she was alone, injured, freezing, and terrified. It was all she could do to stare at the two of them and try to suppress her mounting terror.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit of a long one. I wanted to cut it in several places but I thought I would draw your ire by not having any fluff. I didn’t want to be ALL doom and gloom. Thanks to those who have given me support and ideas. Some I took into account while others, sadly better ideas than mine, didn’t quite fit. I actually teared up while writing this part, no kidding. You may agree. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 3  
Hours later the sun began to lighten the sky outside the shelter. Rose hadn't moved other than to stoke the fire, which she kept roaring all night. The nice effect of that was that the shelter was cool but comfortable. The little bear and the Doctor didn't stir at all. Rose, however, jumped at any little sound outside, terrified that the wolves would come back. It made for a night of no sleep. She never even rested her eyes. 

When dawn finally broke and the sun was visible in the sky, Rose stood and stretched. To her surprise, the bear raised his head too. He got to his feet and waddled over to her, brushing her pant leg. 

"So little one, you bite me last night, but now you want a cuddle?" She laughed, carefully scratching behind his little ears. He seemed to enjoy it and squeaked happily. Rose took out a few more fruit pieces for herself and tossed a few to the bear, which he picked up and stuffed in his mouth. Rose couldn’t quite get over the sight, even when remembering the Doctor’s explanation of its opposable thumbs. 

The bear seemed happy with the fruit he got, but soon began to dance around, sniffing, jumping and just generally acting like a puppy. Concerned that he may disturb the Doctor, or worse land on him, Rose led him outside. Quickly she saw why he had suddenly become so animated. He jumped up and into the bushes where she could see him relieving himself. Then he scrambled back to her side. 

"Your mama taught you well little one." said Rose, giving him another scratch. "Well I suppose we should get the lay of the land and see if we can recover anything from our camp. Fancy a walk?" The entire time she was speaking, the little bear stared at her quizzically. Then just like he understood her, he bounded ahead, looked back to see if she was following and took off again. 

Within minutes they found the river. It was still frozen in most places, but Rose could see big fish just under the ice. She laughed when the bear stood on the ice and pawed and growled at the fish under him. That was until one moved quickly and he let out a little squeal and ran back to her, hiding behind her legs. Rose chuckled and rubbed his head until he calmed down. 

Next she took the lead and led him to the slide area. Now she could see the vastness of the avalanche. It had leveled trees for hundreds of metres down the slope. She looked up to try to gauge where their camp had been. It was totally gone. It looked like part of the avalanche had carried trees over as far as the river too, as she could see piles of trees in the area of the river higher up. 

Heart heavy, Rose started off. The question burning in her mind was: Where is the TARDIS? She couldn't see it anywhere, but truthfully wasn't sure she would even know her way back if there hadn't been an avalanche. The Doctor was a good guide, and never got lost. She on the other hand once got lost in a mall. On top of everything else, the lay of the land had completely changed, the trees were now gone, and everything was covered in thick snow. As far as she was concerned, it could have been a completely different planet. 

To make things worse, now her guide, her adventure buddy, her solution to most problems was out of the picture. Then adding to it, she had no idea how long he would be out for. Now as she trudged along she could feel like she was getting hungry. This was hunger that dried fruit and animal crackers wouldn't fix, at least not in the long run. Plus now there was a baby, at least for now, and she had no idea how to care for it. 

The thought of an angry bear mom was one Rose tried not to think about. Her plan was to hopefully see her first and direct her baby to her, and then run like crazy. In retrospect it wasn't much of a plan. 

Rose plodded along through the deep snow, hoping to find something, anything to help. The bear happily jumped in and out of the snow drifts, following its nose. After a little while he disappeared. 

"Hey little guy, I really need to name you... but where are you?"

In response to her calling she heard a crinkling and rustling just in front of her. As she leaned over to investigate, the bear came popping out of the snow. 

"Oh!" she exclaimed, falling backward onto her bottom. The baby bounded on top of her, he had something in his teeth. Upon closer inspection it was a water bladder. It was one of the things in the tent. It had a closable top like a squirt bottle. The bear shook it from side to side. He must have liked the sound of the water sloshing about inside of it. 

"Give it here." she said, taking it from his mouth. Then she popped open the top and squirted a little water in his mouth. He jumped back and tumbled, but recovered quickly, asking for more. He ended up taking the end in his mouth and sucking until almost all the water was gone. Then he turned and jumped back down the hole he had come out of. 

Rose followed him then, digging with her hands to widen the expanse, hoping upon hope there was more down there. 

She was rewarded with some sort of handle sticking out that the bear had to duck under to get in. With a mighty tug, Rose was able to free it. It was a pot, a mangled, very bent pot, but one none the less. Now she could heat water! 

Rose could hear the bear rooting around farther down but couldn't reach herself. "Hey can you get some stuff up here for me?" she asked joking. As if on command, the little bear appeared again with something in his mouth. He was struggling and it looked like whatever it was caught, but he pulled until he got stuck. Rose reached in past him and pulled too. It felt like fabric. With another hard pull it broke free. It was fabric! It was part of one of the duvets that had been on the bed. It was torn and wet, but it meant that she had something to sit on. 

Further excavation yielded another water bladder, this one empty, and another bag of dried fruit. Rose stuffed everything in her jacket as she went, energized by the finds. There was hope, more things were most likely just under the surface, and her little companion was great at finding them. As she was about to dig more, the little bear came to her feet and lay down on the toes of her shoes. 

He cried and wriggled and looked up at her hopefully. Rose thought about it for a few seconds. The last time she had tried to get him up he bit her, but that was when he was being hunted. Slowly she bent over and scooped him up and he snuggled into her arms. He was heavy like dead weight.

"Oh little guy, you're tired! I'm sorry you worked so hard. Let's go back and you can have a kip." He didn't react to her, but quickly fell asleep in her arms. Rose carefully wrapped the duvet piece over her shoulders, and held the pot in one hand. Carrying so much was really uncomfortable and heavy, but she kept on. After tripping multiple times, but thankfully not dropping her load, she made it back to the shelter. 

First she checked on the Doctor, he was still asleep, and then set the bear down next to him. Again the Doctor moved ever so slightly to the warmth of the bear. Then she set the duvet on some branches to dry, stoked the fire again and collected more wood. The sun was high in the sky when she finished. Neither the bear nor the Doctor had stirred. Rose sat down for the first time, now feeling the work she had done coupled with the sleepless night. It caused aching deep in her bones. She looked down at her hands, they were positively wrecked. Her mother would have gaped at the sight of her nails alone. She was covered with scrapes and bruises, not including the bite from the bear. 

But there was more to do. She needed to get food, water and look for more supplies. All she wanted to do now was sleep like the other two, but that wasn't an option. 

Painfully she dragged herself to her feet. She emptied the remainder of the bag of fruit into her hand, ate a small handful, then set the rest in a little pile by the bear. If he woke up without her there he may be hungry. 

Next she took out the animal crackers and tucked them into the Doctor's coat. Then he would have something to eat too. 

Now taking the bottles and the two water bladders, she set off. They needed water and fish to eat. . 

Her legs ached as she started off towards the river. Her hand hurt too where the bear had bit her last night. It was red and angry; with about ten little puncture marks in a semi-circle. Rose made a mental note to try to clean it if she got through the ice in the river. 

OoOoOo

Out of curiosity more than anything else, Rose headed up the river from where she had been with the bear earlier, hoping to find shallower waters grab fish from. It was also possible that the fallen trees would create pools. She hiked and climbed over some rocks and was treated to a gorgeous view of the river and some shallower spots. She could see that there were fish only a few inches from the surface. Looking around Rose found a large rock about the size of a basketball. Her plan was simple, drop the rock on the fish. Hopefully it would both break through and hit them. Just as she lifted the rock to try her first smash, she heard a hoarse, wheezy groan from the bushes about 5 metres away. She dropped the rock in surprise and hustled back behind a boulder for shelter. 

After a few moments of quiet there was another groan. Whatever it was didn't seem to care about being heard, but wasn't advancing either. Carefully and as quiet as possible, Rose climbed out. All the while she kept her eyes alert, checking all around for a possible trap. Everything seemed fine, nothing was lurking around and it was easy to see in the bright sunlight. 

Rose advanced on the sound, creeping along and finally peeking through some underbrush. There lying on her back, fur matted in blood was the mother bear. Rose winced as she accidentally stepped on a dry twig and it snapped loudly. The mother didn't even move. She was breathing heavily, but slowly. It looked as if she struggled to draw each breath. 

Rose took a chance and stepped out into the little clearing that the bear was in. The animal didn't even move or acknowledge her presence. As Rose inched forward she could see why. The bear had a large gash on her head, with part of her skull crushed in. She must have been caught in the avalanche too. 

Rose got close enough that she could have reached out and touched her if she wanted to, though she resisted. She watched in horror as the bear took one more shuttering breath then lay silent. She had died.

Rose stood there, terrified and saddened at the same time. The little bear was all alone now. She moved slowly to the mother bear and laid a hand on her, ready to jump back if needed. It wasn’t. She was completely still. Rose sighed then took a stuttering breath in. Her tears were building at the thought of the dead bear before her and the orphaned one back at her shelter. "It's okay Mama, I'll take care of your baby... I promise”. With that she wiped away her tears and stepped back.

Rose stood back and surveyed the mother for a while, taking her in. She was a formidable animal, at least three times Rose’s size, yet beautiful. Her rich brown fur was radiant in the sunlight filtering in through the trees, the leopard like spots now more visible. Her cub was a lot like her, about the same color and everything. Idly rose wondered how big he would get and if he would have the same coloring when he was grown. Then she thought about how he would learn to be a bear, now that his mother was gone. These thoughts started to overwhelm her and she shivered. It was time to go, she had work to do. 

She was turning to leave when she had a thought. The baby was very young. He probably still needed his mother's milk like a lot of species. Then ever so carefully, Rose leaned in and parted the fur on the mother's belly. There, engorged from not being fed from, were four teats. She smiled, this was huge. Quickly Rose took out the two water bladders and took off the tops. 

The absurdity of what was about to happen was not lost on Rose. Particularly when she realized that she really didn’t know where to begin. It’s not like she had to milk cows on the estate. Milk had always come from Tesco’s, never directly from the source. 

So now, feeling like a complete idiot, she reached out and gave the closest nipple a little squeeze. At first nothing happened, but seconds later it started to leak. Encouraged, Rose pulled a little and milk actually squirted out. Things picked up quickly from there. Then for the next half hour she carefully milked everything she could out of the now still mother. She ended up with just short of two liters which she tucked into her jacket. They were warm too and helped her fight the chill that was setting in. 

She gathered her things again and turned, taking a step away then stopping. She turned, looking back at the bear, and had an overwhelming feeling that she shouldn’t just leave. This mother had been caring for her baby and lost her own battle in the process. But, due to her size, there was no way she could bury her. Just digging the hole would expend more energy than Rose could possibly muster, let alone getting her in there. 

Hurriedly, Rose looked around and began to gather branches of all sizes and piled them on and around her. Leaving her here out in the open wasn’t just sad, but the last thing she wanted to happen was for her to be eaten by scavengers. Rose had a brief thought of trying to skin and harvest her, but there was no way. This was the little bear's mother. She just couldn't bring herself to do it. The Doctor would understand. At least she thought he would. 

Thanking herself for hanging onto the sonic, she used it to light dry brush at the base of her piles.   
Soon a fire raged in the clearing. Luckily nothing was close enough to spread it, as she hadn't taken it to account. There was still plenty of snow around though and it wouldn't go far anyway. 

Rose stood for a while watching the fire, but then realized she hadn't gotten any fish or food, and the sun was now getting lower in the sky. She gave one more glance back at the burning pile with the mother underneath, gave a silent goodbye and made her way back to the river. 

Lost in thought, she made her way back to where she had dropped the rock in the river. It was easy to find and she heaved it up when she found it, ready to drop it again. She briefly glanced down and exclaimed, “OH!” Not only had the rock broken the ice below, but it killed two fish that had been just underneath it. She hadn't intended on hitting anything, and had only dropped the rock in fear, but luck would have it, it worked. 

Spurred on by this happy turn of events Rose grabbed up the fish, filled the unbroken water bottle with water. Then she took out the broken one, filled it to the hole, and drank it down. The water under the ice was running freely and tasted wonderful. She hadn’t realized how thirsty she had been. She ended up filling that bottle three separate times and drinking it, then one more time to drink as she walked back to the shelter. 

It occurred to her at that moment that she was holding fish and she shivered a bit. Then she chuckled. Look at Rose Tyler, mountain woman, she thought to herself. She had never even been fishing before. Thinking back, she had never cooked a fish. She had eaten them plenty of times, fried in batter and accompanied by chips and malt vinegar, but never like this. Well there was a first time for anything. 

Soon Rose made it back to the shelter. Inside she could hear the little bear running around. She picked up her pace hoping he wasn't bothering the Doctor.

The sight that met her when she entered took her aback. 

The Doctor was awake, but hadn't moved. He was still on his side with his head resting on his arm. He had the package of animal crackers in his hand and was flicking them across the shelter were the bear would run to them, tumble, pick one up and stuff it in his mouth. Rose laughed at the sight and they both looked up. 

She set down the fish on a log that was near the mouth of the shelter, out of the bear's reach. "You’re awake!" she chirped. 

"Yes, and I see that we have acquired a friend.” His speech was still much slower than usual; even slower than a normal person's.

"Yes, his mother...um died. I found her in the woods." She sniffed, momentarily seeing the scene again. 

The Doctor’s brow furrowed but his eyes softened. "Oh... sorry you had to see that Rose." He looked deeply into her eyes, matching the sadness she held in hers. 

Rose took a sharp inhalation as if to clear the subject. The Doctor startled a little but smiled and flicked another cracker at the bear. Rose noticed that he actually was moving very little. Only one arm moved and that was only at the wrist. She didn't even really move his head. 

"Doctor, are you OK?”

He smiled weakly at her. "I'm ok, but nowhere near all better. I imagine I'll be awake here and there and maybe for longer. But I've been up for ten minutes and thirty seven seconds now, and I’m completely knackered. I'll need to sleep again soon." Very slowly he put the bag of animal crackers back into his coat. 

"Are you injured?"

"I don't think so." 

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"I hugged you to keep you warm, but in doing so kind of used up my batteries...as it were."

"You kept me warm? So you used all your energy to warm me up?"

He signed, clearly uncomfortable with telling her what exactly he'd done. "Basically, I increased my metabolism... to warm you." The hand that was flicking the animal crackers rested back down at his side and he closed his eyes again, but only briefly. The fluttered back open a moment later and settled on her. 

Rose remembered that there was more to tell him. "Oh before you fall back asleep, I got milk... from the mother."

"Rose Tyler you're a star." His voice now decidedly quieter and weaker, but he held her gaze. "You can feed him... and just put the rest... in the snow to keep cold."

"Good idea. Um do you have anything to um, clean the fish?"

He was quiet for a few moments, eyes now closed and Rose thought that he may have fallen back asleep. Then he opened his eyes again. "I have a pocket knife, don’t use the sonic. It will make a mess." Very slowly he inched his hand into his jacket pocket and she could see him fishing about. Minutes later he produced a little jackknife. Rose hopped up and grabbed it from him. 

"Doctor, can the bear eat the fish? I actually don't even know what he eats. I gave him dried fruit before."

"You mean Herbie?" His eyes were half open again. 

"So you named him? Well I guess Herbie suits him."

"It does. But he can eat most things. He loves the ... animal crackers. He likes the bears the best."

"Doctor! That's cannibalism!" Rose laughed. 

The Doctor merely gave her a weak smile back. "Yes he can eat the fish. He can eat it raw." He took a series of breaths. "But you need to cook it for us. Give him as much...milk... as he wants." With that the Doctor closed his eyes. His hands relaxed and his face drooped somewhat. He was asleep again. 

Rose pulled the water bladders, now nearly full of milk, out of her jacket, then went outside and dug a hole in the snow, placed one in and covered it. 

Herbie was right on heels and almost tripped her as she went back in. "Hey there buddy, do you want some milk?" she asked. Though he had no idea what she was saying, he danced around her.

Rose pulled in the torn duvet and set it next to the Doctor sitting with crossed legs on it. Herbie crawled up into her lap expectantly. She pulled out the fuller bladder and popped off the top. 

Then she simply tipped the squirt bottle end into his mouth and squeezed gently. At first he jumped a little, but figured it out quickly and was soon sucking on the end and drinking the milk. He must have taken in about eight or so ounces when he started to slow down. Rose watched him closely, noticing his eyes start to close. Soon he relaxed in her lap and stopped drinking. He rested his head on her leg, asleep. 

Herbie was really warm, Rose found herself resting back on the wall of the shelter and resting her own eyes. She hadn't slept in a long time and having a warm fuzzy bear in her lap only made it feel better. 

Rose must have fallen asleep because she woke up shivering. The sun was completely down now and the fire had almost burned down completely. Carefully she cradled a sleeping Herbie and placed him next to the Doctor.

She chastised herself for letting the fire go down. She needed it to be big, and fast. If the wolves returned it was her only line of defense. There was plenty of wood about, but it took a lot of effort to collect it. 

She started it again and stoked what she could, but had to go a little farther out to collect the loose branches. Every time she couldn't see the two sleeping figures in the shelters she worried. They were vulnerable just sleeping like that. 

Another stumbling block was her hand. It was really starting to throb. In the dark she couldn't see it, but it felt like it may be starting to swell. 

She collected what wood she could and hurried back. The fire wasn't what it had been the night before, but it was adequate, radiating nice heat into the shelter without too much smoke. While warming herself next to the fire Rose's stomach rumbled, reminding her of just how long it had been since she had eaten. 

She looked over to the fish still sitting on a log. She needed to get them cooked as soon as possible and eaten to keep any opportunistic animal from coming into camp.

Taking the first fish, she opened the knife and brought it to the belly, then stopped with a shiver. She was about to embark on the grossest thing she had ever encountered. Hunger won out though. Taking a deep breath she pushed in the blade and sliced the flesh apart. 

The look and smell of the innards made her gag repeatedly. She was able to scoop out the organs and drop each fish into the mangled pot without losing what little she may have in her stomach. 

The organs were laid out in the dirt before her when she had a thought. She needed to get rid of them or something would come after them too. Keeping the pot in her hand, she scooped them up and jogged as far as she dared away. Then she kicked a hole in some exposed dirt and didn't stop until she was about a foot down. She dumped the organs in and covered it up, then ran back to the shelter. 

She found "her boys" just fine, both sleeping soundly. Rose came in and sat down, taking a deep breath. She ached all over from lack of sleep and just the pains of digging, hiking...well everything. Her hand still hurt too. She cast a gaze to the fish that she had set down next to her. While the protein would be good, she just couldn't stay awake much longer. 

Groaning to herself, she got to her feet again and taking a branch from the woodpile. She dug a hole in the snow at the edge of the shelter. She dropped the fish in and covered them up, packing the snow tightly around them. Hopefully they would freeze and something wouldn't come for them. Just in case she threw several more logs on the fire until it was huge again. Then she dragged herself into the shelter, curled up as best she could on what was left of the duvet and fell into an exhausted sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I’m updating at an unusual time for me, mainly because my next week is bordering on mayhem. More action and a little fluff today. Forgive me for the cliffie… or not… I’m OK with it. If you feel compelled to tell me how wonderful it is you can review and if not I’m OK with that too.

Chapter 4  
Rose woke hours later to something warm butting into her repeatedly. She had her arms wrapped around her tightly though it wasn't too terribly cold in the shelter. She opened her eyes to find Herbie rubbing up next to her and crying softy. 

"Hey buddy, are you hungry?"

At the sound of her voice Herbie started to wiggle and jump. Rose sat up, wiping her eyes. Her hand hurt really badly now. It felt warm to the touch too. Carefully Rose tore a little of the duvet off and wrapped it up. She got to her feet and stretched. She hadn't had a whole night's sleep but it was better than nothing. 

She went out and stoked the fire while Herbie ran into the woods and rustled around in the leaves. Rose was pleased to see that nothing had gotten the fish. When the fire was stronger, she retrieved the water bladder that held the least amount of milk and placed it near the fire on a rock, figuring that Herbie preferred warm milk. By the time he finished running around and came back to her, the bag was warmer. He drank again, this time taking more, and eventually drained the bag. He cried a little when it ran dry.

"Herbie, we have to save the other milk until later. I'll find something else to feed you, you little piggy." She petted his head and gave him a good scratch behind the ears and he bounded back into the shelter. 

Rose then dug up the fish and dropped them into her malformed pan, then held them by some coals to cook. 

In the time it took for the fish to defrost and cook, Rose found herself transfixed by the flames. She let her mind wander, thinking about the last two days. Nothing she had done, making fire, fighting wolves, fishing, trudging through snow, digging herself out of something, or rigging something to rescue someone, were skills of the old Rose Tyler. Running away with the Doctor meant adventures galore, but this was different. This was more real somehow. Not that they hadn't been in some close scrapes, but he had always pulled her out, jumping in at the last moment with a brilliant idea to save the day. But now, he wasn't around, at least like usual. This had been all her; the ”Rose Tyler, Mountain Girl” show. She grinned to herself. It felt good to call the shots, at least for now. If it got bad again, who knows what could happen. That was the frightening part. If he didn't recover they may be stuck here. She took it as a good sign though that he was awake more. Now if he could just stay awake longer and help her figure all this out hey could get out of here, preferably before something ate them. 

Her thoughts flitted back to the camp. He had set up such an amazing camp. She could see the whole thing, including the two beds. Her mind's eye stopped on them but she wasn’t sure why. Did she want those two beds to become one? Or would she have been happy just to be there with him? Why did he give himself a bed anyway? He so rarely slept. For the amount of time he needed to rest, they could have shared for sure. Another thought popped in. Why did he keep talking about snuggling by the fire? 

Her thoughts were interrupted by an exceptionally rude little bear that ran out of the shelter, crashed into Rose, turned around, ran past the fire, almost fell, then turned around and trotted back to her. "What was that all about you weirdo?" Rose asked him. He seemed pleased with himself and came up to her again, trying to see what was in the pot she still held. 

"OK, OK, let's go eat." The fish looked done for the most part and Rose brought the pot back into the shelter and took a seat on her spot. Carefully she picked off a bit of fish, smelled it (it just smelled like fish), and took a tentative taste. 

It wasn't too bad actually. Her stomach growled loudly, indicating just how hungry she was then. She continued to eat; now enjoying the taste. From time to time she gave Herbie a little. He held it like a child would, examining it, then would put it in his mouth. He seemed satisfied after just a few pieces and sat down next to her. 

After a few minutes and one fish gone, Rose felt eyes on her. She had been talking softly to Herbie at the time. She looked up to see the warm brown eyes of the Doctor. He gave her another weak smile but didn't say anything.

She smiled back. "Hey there; are you OK?"

He nodded just a little. 

"Are you hungry?"

"Thirsty." he croaked, almost too quietly to hear. 

Rose got up, still holding the pan and got the full water bottle. "I filled it in the stream. It was running water. 

He nodded and whispered, “Should be fine."

Rose sat next to him and tipped the bottle to his lips. He drank about half of it and rested back. 

"Would you like some fish?" she asked. He nodded again. She picked some meat off, checked it for any more bones and brought it to his mouth. He didn't move other than to open his lips. She gently pushed the meat in and he closed his mouth, lips brushing her fingers. Then he chewed twice and swallowed. "Mmmmm" he hummed. Rose sat next to him feeding him for a few minutes before he shook her off. It was a little weird feeding him like this. If the situation had been different it may have even been considered sensual. His lips grazed her fingers time and again as she fed him bit after bit. Neither one of them reacted though. No matter where her mind took her she knew that it was not a place they had been and now was not the time to start thinking about all that. He was basically an invalid for heaven’s sake. She actually felt a little twinge of guilt for thinking that way. 

When she had picked all the meat and only the skins were left, she went outside and buried them in the snow, then went back in. 

The Doctor had closed his eyes again and Rose thought he may just go back to sleep but instead he spoke. "Can you… sit me up?"

"Sure!" she replied a little too enthusiastically. She pulled his legs in front of him then tipped him up to sit. He seemed to be helping along the way but she still did most of the work. Finally sitting comfortably, he smiled. "That feels better." He turned his head and took in the shelter. "Rose did you make this?"

"Yes and no, I mean the trees stacked up along the walls by themselves. There must have been another avalanche or something. But I put some of the stuff over the top. He saw the pot and duvet and assorted water bottles and bladders. 

"And this stuff, how did you get it?"

Rose grinned and pet Herbie, who had since found a place on the Doctor's lap. "This little guy dug some stuff out for me. I need to go back and see what else we can find though I guess. The blanket you're on I found the day I dug us out."

The Doctor nodded slowly in acknowledgement. Normally Rose would have thought that he was thinking something through, but now all his motions were slow. He did, however, move his arm to his lap and was giving Herbie gentle scratches behind his ears. 

Rose gave him a warm smile but he didn't seem to notice. He took in a breath through his nose and made a face. 

"What?" she asked.

"I don't know... something smells off. This little guy throws off my olfactory sense though. It almost smells like... infection or something."

Rose carefully stuck her injured hand in her coat pocket. She wasn’t sure if it was her or not that he smelled, but it was very possible, especially since it grew more painful each day. She would love to have him treat it, but right now they had bigger fish to fry so to speak. 

He drew another breath. "Have you seen the TARDIS?"

"Not yet. Can't you...um... feel her?"

"Yes I can, and she feels fine, but seems to be whining about water. I can't get a clear feeling from her. It'll get better when I am better."

"How long do you think?"

"Oh I imagine it will be in a day or two, maybe three. I'm stronger now thanks to you and your fishing ability." He managed a wink at her, causing a chill to shoot up her spine and land in her heart. "Just keep the fuel coming and let me sleep and I'll get there. I can feel my body temperature rising. Honestly, Herbie's little warm body is helpful too." His speech was still slow though, not anything near his usual pace. With his latest statement, he slumped back farther. 

"Do you need to lay back down?"

The Doctor sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry, Rose"

Carefully Rose helped him lay back down in the same position. "There’s nothing to be sorry for Doctor. First off you saved me. Now you're getting better, we have food, water and shelter and even a little pet. I think it’s rather domestic of us.” She gave him her tongue touched smile. He gave her a half smile in response. 

"Cheeky, Rose Tyler." he whispered. With that, Herbie curled up next to him and soon they both were asleep. 

After making sure the fire was burning adequately, Rose took the empty water bladder and the two bottles back to the river. This time she headed downstream, the memory of Herbie's mother too close. Like the last time she went, she found fish right under the surface of the ice. Kneeling at the river’s edge she rinsed out the bladder of milk and filled it with water, making sure to drink a lot herself. 

This part of the river was much deeper in the middle. While hunting for fish killing rocks, something caught her eye. She jumped on a few exposed rocks until she was perched near the middle of the flowing water. She could see clearly down, but rubbed her eyes to be sure she was seeing clearly. It was for sure though, down about five metres, was the TARDIS, fully submerged in the river. 

Rose’s heart fell. It must have been swept away in the avalanche and somehow landed in the river. Now it was under water. No wonder she had been whining about water. There was no way for Rose to swim down to her, let alone get the door open and get in without filling her with water. No matter the skill of Rose Tyler Mountain Girl, this would require the unique skills of her Doctor, though at this time had no ability to get it. 

 

The thought of it made her sick. Suddenly she felt very cold and tired. She hadn't known what to expect with the TARDIS. She guessed she had thought it was just somewhere waiting for them but she hadn't run across it yet. Now it was out of reach. There was no way to save them without the Doctor being able to get to it. 

A few tears escaped. Rose wasn't sure if they were from seeing the TARDIS so close and yet so far, or just the exhaustion and freezing cold. No matter what the circumstance, she remained on the rock in the middle of the river, crying for some time. 

Soon she realized that time was passing and if she wanted to eat again that night she would need to get more fish. Then maybe the Doctor could set the sonic to help search for more supplies or she could take Herbie out tomorrow to look again. 

The "drop the rock" method worked wonders again and yielded three big fish this time. Now loaded with a full water bladder, fish, another full water bottle and the broken one to sip from, Rose hiked back to camp.

She found the bear and Doctor still sleeping, but Herbie woke quickly when she set things down. She stoked the fire again, warmed some milk for him in the other bladder and let him drink until he had his fill. That milk would most likely be gone by morning. Hopefully they could be out of this situation soon so they could get him the right nutrients. Rose smiled to herself. It was different having to think about someone other than her and the Doctor. But now she found herself worrying about their little fuzzy companion too. Never once had she seen him as a burden, but more like he just fit right in. 

After cleaning the fish, a job that didn’t get any easier or less nausea inducing, she took the innards out and buried them like before. Herbie sniffed at them before she could cover them, but luckily for her, wasn't interested.

It was beginning to get darker so she hurried back, gathering wood along the way. The evenings weren't as bitter cold anymore and she idly wondered if the dawning of spring was close. 

She cooked the fish like before and sat down again to feed herself and the happy little bear that no longer left her side, when he was awake that is. Rose could feel herself tiring though, even more so than usual. She thought that now that she was eating and drinking with some regularity she would start to feel better, but the opposite was the case. Every day she felt worse and worse. She wondered if the problem could be her hand, which hurt all the time now. How clean could a bear's mouth be? She had to stay strong for the Doctor now. If she failed, he could die. Most likely he would re-generate, but there was no guarantee, so that was not an option. 

As Rose watched him, he moved a little, bringing his hand to his face and Herbie jumped up and ran over to him, bonking his little head into the Doctor's chest. Rose heard a little laugh as the Doctor pulled the bear to him until Herbie wiggled free. 

He looked up at her. "Fish for dinner again? Aww shucks."

She could see a twinkle in his eye when he said it. "Now listen here mister. You'll eat what I cook. It could be worse." She laughed, and then got up and helped him sit. 

This time he held out a hand for the fish and fed himself after downing the bottle of water. Rose couldn’t help but miss feeding him though. It had felt special, like something they shared. 

Him sitting up was big though. His color had started to come back too. But still when she touched his hand, it was very cold. Not frigid, like before, but much colder than normal, indicating that he still had a ways to go. 

After feeding himself for a little while he made a face again. 

"What?" she asked. 

"I still smell it. It's like something is either rotten or infected. Are you sure you can’t smell it?"

"Nope, maybe Herbie throws you off like you said." Rose answered, tucking her hand in her pocket again.   
“You should have smelled the wolves that were after him too. They smelled horrible. I wonder if things smell more strongly around here.” Rose tried in vain to look like she was not trying to get him off the scent as it were. 

"I don't know..." he trailed off, giving her a slightly confused look. 

Rose opted to deflect. "Oh my gosh I forgot to tell you! I have good news and bad news."

"I'll take the good news."

"I found the TARDIS!"

"Really?" This was the first bit of emotion she had heard in his voice in days. 

"Yes, but now I know why was complaining about water. I found her in the middle of the river. It was pretty deep."

"So that must be the bad part. But was her light on?"

"Yes, that's what caught my eye I think."

"Then she's OK, or at least functional. Now I just have to swim down and get her. "

"So when do you think you’ll be up to… um getting up?"

The Doctor thoughtfully scratched the growing scuff on his chin. I should think in a day or two I should be on my feet. It'll be slow going, but if you keep taking stellar care of me, we'll be back in the TARDIS in no time."

His words were music to her ears. 

He stayed awake for another thirty minutes or so, chatting about benign things. He did give her appraising looks from time to time though. Rose worked hard to keep the conversation off her. Her hand wasn't going to be an issue as far as she was concerned; at least not yet. 

After a while Rose noticed his words coming slower and his eyes beginning to droop. 

"I think it's bedtime!" she sing-songed. 

He didn’t argue. He lay down without help though, and Herbie crawled up next to him. He closed his eyes and Rose thought he had fallen asleep when he spoke again, although very quietly. "Rose... thank you...I'm sorry for this."

"Doctor, you just get better and you can repay me then."

He half smiled but didn’t open his eyes. "Oh I will..." After that he was quiet again. 

Having the opportunity to talk to him had made the evening almost pleasant. Herbie had provided entertainment too, jumping after a piece of fuzz that came off her duvet, and chewing on the Doctor's shoe. He was such a happy little guy, but it hurt Rose's heart to think that his mother was gone. The Doctor hadn't addressed that problem yet, but she figured he would have a plan at some point. 

For now she was happy. It felt like they had a little family going here; a mom, dad and baby all playing house. If it weren't for the freezing temperatures, the lack of food, the wolves, this would be just perfect. 

Rose stood and looked back at the two fast asleep on the blanket. She figured the Doctor would be out until morning or longer, considering the amount of energy he had exerted to sit up and talk earlier. But they were baby steps forward, and that's what they needed. Herbie would be up first thing in the morning to eat again. 

Rose thought about how nice it was to have a little companion of her own to be with. She would be terribly lonely if it weren't for him. He was quite a little pal too. His antics alone were enough to push back the loneliness that threatened to creep in when it was cold and the Doctor was asleep. 

The fire was doing well, but Rose went out and added wood to it anyway, just in case. She was tossing a piece in when she caught a whiff of something. She knew that smell, but from where? As it dawned on her she whirled around coming face to face with a wolf 

She shrieked and grabbed a burning log, swiping it in the air in front of her. Then she heard more growling, this time behind her. She turned to see another wolf, this one bearing the obvious scars of recent burns, burns she had inflicted when they were after Herbie the first night. 

"Get out of here!" she bellowed, poking the burning log out at each of them. But as she did, two more appeared on the sides. Each growled menacingly. When she went after one, the other three advanced. 

They crept closer to her as she kept up the verbal and fiery defense. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw something. Herbie had woken up and came out to see what the commotion was. 

"Herbie get back!" she screamed, knowing that he wouldn't listen. The wolves turned to him and one pounced, catching the little bear in its front paws. Herbie squealed in fear and bit the wolf, who tried to bite back. Rose ran over and hit the wolf with the burning log, catching it on fire like she had its counterpart days before. It dropped Herbie and ran. 

Now Rose was unarmed though and the other wolves were closing in quickly. She dove for the fire again, nearly missing one wolf that made a move towards her. 

There was a loud, high pitched yelp as another wolf got Herbie. As she scrambled closer to the fire, Rose's hand landed on a large rock, one that she had previously used to warm the ground around the Doctor. She lifted it, feeling the burning sensation as she ran to the animal that had Herbie and landed a blow in his back. He howled, dropping the little bear and turning on her; its yellow eyes focusing on her. It was bleeding heavily from the back of the head but opening and closing his mouth, baring its teeth. Rose grabbed the rock again ready to strike, but this time the wolf dodged and ran into the shelter. 

Now he was in there with the completely defenseless Doctor. Rose ran in after him screaming. Just as she did, he pounced. He hit Rose like a ton of bricks, sending her sprawling back. He had her pinned under his large paws and leaned in, growling. Rose struggled, reaching for anything. Her hand landed near her pocket, and as she struggled, writhing back and forth, anything to not be bitten, she found the Doctor's pocket knife. She flicked it open with practiced motion and plunged it into the side of the wolf’s neck. 

He howled again and wavered just enough to allow her to roll free. He wasn't done though, he bit at her ankle, making purchase and causing her to scream out of fear more than anything. Once again she stabbed, this time getting him in the back. One of the wounds must have found an artery, as blood was squirting everywhere inside. This arterial bleeding wouldn't last long, but he was still fighting. 

As Rose pulled herself away, he bit out at her again, growling and gnashing his teeth before he fell, dead at her feet. 

She took a breath, waiting for it to move again, and when it didn’t she got painfully to her feet, running outside to face the remaining two. When she got out there, she was met with the sound of the crackling fire and nothing more. They must have run off. Perhaps they got what they wanted. Rose’s heart stopped. Where was Herbie? He had been right there but she lost sight of him when she was killing the wolf. He was nowhere around now. Herbie was gone. 

 

Without hesitation, she grabbed another burning log and ran into the woods frantically searching for the little bear.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N:And so we move on. Thanks for the great comments!

Chapter 5 

The Doctor stirred. Something was bothering him in his sleep, though he was able to ignore it at first. Was something loud? Maybe. He moved, noticing he was a little colder than he had been in the shelter at night. Maybe Rose had fallen asleep and the fire went out. But what was loud? Normally when he moved she was by his side, but this time nothing. Now it was quiet as he slowly regained awareness. But what was that smell? The lingering infection smell was there, but what else? His eyes popped open when he realized what it was. It was the smell of blood. He looked around the inside of the shelter, eyes adjusting to the darkness. Blood was sprayed all over the inside, some still dripping from the ceiling. There was a lump in front of him, a large lump. He pushed himself up carefully to see better. It was a wolf or big dog, and it was dead. 

"Rose?" he called out, surprised at the weakness in his own voice. 

He tried again "ROSE?" this time it came out a little louder, but not even his usual volume. No answer came to his calling. Very slowly he leaned forward and got onto all fours. This position was acutely painful due to his lack of movement for days. One inch at a time he crawled forward towards the mouth of the shelter. Every muscle screamed for lack of attention as he forced himself forward. Just this minimal exertion was tremendously taxing. He had only slept a little while since he last ate, and he had nowhere near the reserves to do this. Maybe after a full night's sleep but definitely not now. 

But he trudged on. Where was Rose? And Herbie? What had happened? There were no clear answers, just more blood on the ground outside.

Upon making it just outside the shelter, his vision started to swim. Next, waves of nausea washed over him. He lay flat on the ground to try to temper them. As he lay there, the exhaustion hit him like a hammer. "Rose?" he whispered, giving it all he could muster. There was no answer, and then he passed out, head hitting the ground with a thud. 

OoOoOo

Rose searched for the wolves, Herbie, anything really, for about an hour. She found nothing though, other than chasing at shadows. How could she have let this happen? That little bear had lost its mother, now it lost its life at the jaws of another predator. She had hoped to keep him, maybe for a while at least, until he could fend for himself. This little fuzzy being had made this time in this frozen hell bearable so to say. Rose looked forward to him being there, feeding him and watching him tumble and play. It was good practice. For what though? That was an entirely different matter. Here she was, lost in the woods, the Doctor was out of commission, and things were trying to kill her. Not exactly a summer holiday. It was miserable, cold and lonely. Her vision blurred with tears as she followed the river upstream until she came to a familiar spot and turned for the shelter. 

She wiped her eyes, no time to cry now. The Doctor... wait... the Doctor, what if the wolves doubled back and were at the shelter? He was a sitting duck, completely unable to defend himself. Rose broke into a run again, willing her aching legs to push on. She saw the gentle glow of the now almost extinguished fire, and then saw the white form in a parka sprawled on its stomach, unmoving. 

"Doctor!" she screamed, bursting into the clearing. He didn't react at all, but she rolled him over and checked him. There were no injuries, so she got behind him, hugged him round the middle and dragged him back to his blanket. He didn’t stir at all, but he looked alright. Next she pulled on the wolf carcass and dragged it out of the camp, down a game trail nearby and dropped it off into a little ravine. When she got back to the camp, she stoked the fire again making the flames leap high into the air. There was no way she would allow anything back into the camp. 

Rose stood next to the flames, letting them warm her. She stood a little too close, but didn't care when an ember or two landed on her. She brushed them off like nothing. That's what she felt like too. Nothing. She hurt from head to toe, her hand now felt twice its size and hurt like it was being stepped on. Being hungry, cold, tired and alone was taking its toll. Rose sniffed, trying to control the impending waterworks. 

"Rose?" a small voice came from behind her. She turned around to see the Doctor, still on his side, looking up to her, questions written all over his face. 

Rose rushed back in. "Are you hurt? I found you outside."

"No... just ran out of energy. What... what happened?"

With that, Rose just started to cry. She told him about the wolves attacking, trying to defend from them, killing the one... and lastly, "Herbie's gone. I don't know where he is. I think they got him." Then she started to sob. She felt a cold hand come up to her cheek and grabbed it, holding it tight. She opened her eyes to find his, staring openly into hers. They were wet too. He clearly felt the loss of their little friend. 

Rose was the first to speak. "Can I hug you?"

"I'll freeze you." he said, frowning. 

"I don't care." she countered, crawling up alongside him, and letting him wrap his arms around her. He was still ice cold but at that minute, it didn’t matter to Rose, not one bit. 

OoOoOoO

Rose woke hours later shivering. The Doctor had been right. Although it felt good to be in his embrace, it chilled her to the core. Carefully she slipped out of his arms and went to the fire. She felt a little dizzy standing but regained her balance after a few moments. She once again stoked the fire to a huge blaze and sat near it to warm herself. 

She didn't think about her predicament or the fact that Herbie was gone, but she thought of home. Sunday morning breakfast, or more like brunch with her mum, watching the telly, having pints with friends on a Friday night. Now she sat in the freezing cold, waiting for the spontaneous spring to happen, with a frozen Doctor and no provisions. She wanted home, not even the TARDIS, but home where her blankets and hot tea were. This adventure had gone on long enough and it was starting to hurt. No, it had hurt from the very beginning, now it was losing hope. The gingerly poled at the ankle the wolf had bitten. Her sock had dried blood on it, but the puncture marks weren’t that deep. It wasn’t a bad wound, but neither had been the one Herbie landed on her hand. 

She was beginning to think they were stuck here. There had always been a way out before, but if the Doctor didn’t get better there wasn’t this time. She would deny it if asked, but she was getting sick too. Her body ached all over and she no longer could use her right hand. The infection that the Doctor smelled was hers and she knew it. It was only a matter of time before it took over. But she had no time to be sick. She had to feed him and keep him warm so he could, in turn, save her. She stood again, drank a few mouthfuls of water, and flopped down on her piece of duvet, sinking into an exhausted sleep. 

OoOoOoOo

"Rose?" a voice penetrated her brain, but got swept up into her dream. She was sitting with the Doctor in a field of flowers, talking about spring, and watching bears dancing some sort of ballet just in front of her. They were laughing and throwing cookies at them. But the field was cold, very cold and she snuggled up to the Doctor for warmth, but he was cold too... "Rose?" the voice was louder now. 

Panicking, she opened her eyes and sat up with a start. She looked around, not seeing where she was for a few moments. Then it all came rushing back. She was in the shelter. The person calling her name was the Doctor. She fixed her anxious eyes on him, before truly seeing him. 

"Rose, are you ok?" he asked. 

She shook her head, clearing the last of the dream. "Uh yeah, sorry. Oh! You're up. Are you ok?"

He had sat himself up again and looked more relaxed than before. But he wore a worried expression. "Are you sure you're ok? You look flushed."

"'M fine Doctor. Is something the matter?"

He looked at her sheepishly. "Rose I hate to burden you. But I'm hungry. I have what's left of... the animal crackers, but I think I need some protein."

She knew why he stalled. Those were Herbie's crackers. "Yeah, I can go get some fish if you want. How are you feeling?"

"Actually a bit better today. I would like to attempt to stand and walk about a little." He stopped. "After I eat."

Rose hauled herself to her feet unsteadily. The Doctor's expression turned from hopeful to worried. "Rose, you don't look so good."

"I'm fine. I just need to eat too." Without another word or glance behind, she took the now empty water bladder (The other one still had Herbies' milk in it and was on ice), the other two bottles, and walked out of the shelter. She could hear the Doctor calling after her, but didn't care. She needed to get food and water, eat, and then hopefully she could sleep.

She noticed something though, it was noticeably warmer. Flowers had started to bloom and when the sun peeked through the trees it was warm on her face. Insects buzzed about, and the wind had all but stopped. Spring had sprung, just as the Doctor had said. Too bad she couldn't appreciate it. 

The walk to the river was longer than she remembered. She stumbled a few times, being momentarily dizzy. Once at the river's edge, she knelt and put her face in the water. The coldness of it felt good against her hot skin. She figured she had a fever now. She also plunged her infected hand in, letting the current wash over it. It felt immeasurably better. Next she filled the bottles and drank deeply. That, too felt good, giving her the boost she needed to drop more rocks on more fish. This trip yielded three pretty large fish. Just enough for... oh... more than enough for the two of them. 

The trip back was not as long as the trip there, but still she was aching, each step getting worse. She could actually feel her eyelids drooping as she forced herself on. The tasks of cleaning the fish, cooking them and eating them actually were daunting. All she wanted to do was sleep. But she knew that if she did they could both die. More and more though, giving up was looking like a better option. 

Finally the shelter could be seen from the path. As she got closer she heard a strange noise. Was that... laughing?

Above the crackling of the fire, Rose could hear the Doctor clearly laughing! He was talking too. Had someone come to the camp? She willed her legs to go faster, pushing herself along until she made it to the edge of camp. 

What met her eyes stunned her. There was the Doctor, sitting on the ground outside the shelter, and he was tossing crackers to... Herbie!

She gasped and they both looked up at her. "Herbie!" she called and he came running. He bumped into her legs and ran around her a few times before bouncing back to the Doctor, who gave him a little milk from the water bladder at his side. 

“Oh my Gods where was he?" she asked, dropping to the ground next to them. 

"I think he was hiding and fell asleep. After you left, I heard noises coming from a little hole in the logs near me. After a minute or two he came out. He must have really gotten himself back in there.”

Is he ok?" She asked, scooping up the little bear to keep him from getting the fish.

"He looks like he got bit on the paw, and maybe some scratches. But if you give me the sonic back I can fix him right up."

Rose handed over the sonic and leaned back. No matter how happy she ws, she still had to clean the fish and prepare them. It hurt to think about it. 

The Doctor eyed her warily. "So how about I help clean the fish and then you can cook them, then he can have a kip? I'd like to see if you can show me the TARDIS after that."

Rose nodded, taking out the jackknife. It was still covered in blood from stabbing the wolf. The Doctor made a face, and then took it from her. He adjusted his sonic again and ran it over it until the blood disappeared. 

He gutted the fish quickly then aimed the sonic at the innards, causing them to shrivel and dry up. 

"That would have been useful to know." Rose commented. He just smiled.

She cooked the fish as usual and they all ate. Rose found herself getting quite drowsy, much like her two companions.

After eating, the Doctor put his hand on Rose's shoulder. "Are you alright? I don't mean this in a bad way, but you look terrible."

Rose tried to smile back at him, but only managed about half that. "It's just not sleeping."

"I think you might be feverish. Are you sure?"

"I'm hot because you’re still cold, Doctor. Now let’s sleep."

Within minutes they all had fallen asleep, Rose on her scrap of duvet, and the Doctor and Herbie on the blanket.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:  
> A little action, a little fluff today. We’re nearing the end though. I’ve really enjoyed what you have said about this. I’ve only written a few adventures where they are out in different worlds and it is encouraging that you like it so far. I have some other things on tap, but I never know when the “what would happen if...” will strike. Overall though, thanks for reading.

Chapter 6  
Rose woke with a start. Something was poking her. She opened her eyes to reveal that it was the Doctor, poking her in the side with his finger. He wore a worried expression that split into a smile when she saw him. 

"Well there you are!" He enthused, "I've been trying to wake you for fifteen minutes. It's a bit of a change though, me waking you here. Not on the TARDIS, mind you, but here it is! Anyhow, are you ready? I thought you could take me down to the river. If I feel ok I may even try to swim down to her. I guess that remains to be seen. What do you think?"

Rose thought that he had entirely too much energy for the state of things. She also thought that she felt wretched. She hurt all over. 

"Are you all better? I mean it's quite a ways to the river. Will you make it?" she croaked.

He eyed her again. "Oh, I think I can buck up for a while. I’ll have to sleep after, but I'm on the road to recovery. Think of that Rose, I have to sleep more than an hour at a time. Just like humans."

Rose smiled lightly at him, getting to her feet and trying to hide that she was unsteady. She felt him take her under the arm and help her up. "Maybe we should stay here." he said softly. "Are you sick? I've been the center of attention all this time, but there is something wrong with you."

Breathing deeply, Rose tried her strongest voice. "Doctor, can we just go get the TARDIS? I'm fine for now, but the sooner I can get back in my own bed the better."

He seemed to not quite believe her, but let her go anyway. "Herbie's still asleep; I imagine he will be for another hour or so. Can you help me pull over some branches to block him in? I just don't want him trying to find us."

Rose agreed without speaking and pulled over a branch while the Doctor brought a few logs. Soon the doorway was adequately blocked. Lastly the Doctor tossed the last of the animal crackers and the bladder, now nearly empty, back into the shelter. Then thinking again, he rummaged around in his pockets, pulling out a rubber ball and threw that in too. "There, that’ll keep him busy. Now shall we Rose?" 

Rose nodded and wordlessly headed out. She couldn't see his expression, but it had darkened considerably. He knew she was sick, and had every intention of fixing it, and her as soon as he had his ship. 

OoOoOoOoOo

When they finally got to the river Rose pointed to the TARDIS under the water. Now that the ice was melting, the current was faster. It was still clear though and the light on the top shone through. The Doctor sat on a rock close to the water and motioned for her to do the same. She sat down hard and took her head in her hands, breathing heavily. 

"Rose?....Rose?" he tried. She slowly brought her head up. "I want you to stay here. Don't move until I come for you. Do you understand?" She nodded. 

The Doctor stood again and began to remove his clothes. Rose took little notice. Had she had her wits about her, she would have grown increasingly embarrassed as he removed layers, down to boxer briefs. She had never seen him with less than a suit on. He glanced at her to see if she was looking, but found her still sitting on the rock, but now leaning against a tree with her eyes closed. Lastly he took out his key and not knowing where to put it, opted to place it in his mouth for the trip. 

He knew what was happening. But he was not up to par himself. The walk over had been exhausting, the most he had moved in days. He wanted nothing but to curl back up and sleep. Recently he hadn't even had to decide on sleeping. It just took him. He hoped that wouldn't be the case again. 

Without pause, the Doctor dove into the river, aiming at a deep part. Instantly the cold water nearly overcame him. Over the past few days, his body temperature was moving towards normal, but this nearly reversed it all in seconds. The cold gripped him like a vice; making his hearts both skip a beat. He was also instantly numb, making it even harder to swim. His eyes even threatened to close but he struggled to remain conscious, knowing that if he went out now there would be no saving him. So he pushed with his arms and kicked with his legs giving every last bit of strength he had. The current was extremely strong and swiftly carried him near the TARDIS but then almost past before he grabbed on and held onto it with all his might. 

The current tugged on him mercilessly but he held tight. He was able to roll himself so that he was pushed up against the side of the TARDIS, held in place by the rushing water. Carefully he removed the key from his mouth, then reached around and after nearly letting go of the key with his numb fingers, and slid it into the lock.

Turning the key was another matter entirely. Now pushed against the side, he reached around again and turned it with all his might. Nothing. He either wasn’t at the right angle, or the TARDIS was trying to protect itself from the water and wouldn’t let him in. Frustrated, exhausted and reaching the end of even his superior biology and respiratory bypass, he hit the side of his ship really hard, yelling "Let me in!” which just came out in bubbles. 

He reached around again hoping upon hope that he could get it to respond, and turned it again. That's when he finally felt it click. As the door was pushed open he swung around and dragged himself inside. Once he hit the grating, the doors slammed shut behind him. Water still was swirling about but he heard pumps activate and soon he was just lying there in a puddle. He registered this, had a fleeting thought about how lucky he was to have a sentient ship, and that he needed to get back to Rose, when sleep took him once again.

OoOoOoOo

Rose stirred on the rock. She hadn't realized it, but she had fallen asleep sitting there. She had no idea how much time had passed. She unsteadily got to her feet, getting hit by a vicious wave of nausea. She reached out, and grabbed hold of the tree behind her, retching onto its trunk. There was very little in her stomach, so she mostly dry heaved. It was clear that she was getting much worse. Something else was that the Doctor had not come back. She tried to see if the TARDIS was still under the water, but as she approached she stumbled on the rocks, landing hard on her injured hand, and striking her face. Now her vision was clouded from injury, infection and now blood. 

Deep down she knew she needed to stay put, but she was no longer thinking rationally. Pain, fever and exhaustion all pulled at her thoughts, and she found herself stumbling down the path, her only thought being that she needed to get back to their home. She made it about 50 metres before collapsing, unconscious.

OoOoO

The sounds of the TARDIS pushed on the edge of the Doctor's mind. She was trying to get to him. His ship was attempting to bring him back. "So cold...” he muttered to no one in particular. Something was alarming though, loud and strong in his head, or maybe in the room. Slowly he forced his eyes open. He was met by the familiar hum of the TARDIS and the silencing of the alarm. "Were you trying to wake me?” he croaked and felt a familiar push on his brain by his telepathic ship. 

He looked around for a moment acclimating to his surroundings. Then it hit him, Rose, the river, she was still up there, sick and he needed to be there with her above all else! He thought back, trying to access his time sense to see how long he had been out, but it was no help. Apparently complete unconsciousness made it difficult to sense time. 

He moved to sit up, every muscle in his body screaming. Somehow he managed to find his legs and pull himself to standing. This wasn't much help, as his stomach dropped, and he became overwhelmingly dizzy. He reached out and held tight to the TARDIS coral nearest him. This was no way to execute a rescue, he thought to himself, and took a painful step towards the console. He felt every millimeter of movement, every cell of his body checking in and voicing their disapproval. Still he pressed ahead until he landed on the jump seat. He nearly passed out again just then, but grabbed onto the monitor. He gaped at what he saw. He had been out for 56 minutes and 36 seconds according to the TARDIS. 

Oh no, Rose! With no further convincing or motivation needed he jumped up and programmed his ship to land back at the river's edge. 

He had intended on landing her 30 seconds after he had left, but in his haste and nearly frozen state, he got only close, but not wanting to try again, he took what he got. Next to him materialized a dry brown suit, new pants, trainers and a heavy parka. He almost just ran out without them, but the TARDIS flashed at him as he took his first step. Knowing that she wouldn't let him out the door until he was properly dressed, he threw on a t-shirt, trousers and slipped on trainers. "Is this good enough?" he asked out loud in frustration. The TARDIS seemed to ponder this for a moment, and then opened the door for him. 

He stepped outside to right where he and Rose had been before he went in the water. Their footprints were there, and his clothes from before, but no Rose. He inspected the ground and saw her set of prints heading back into the woods. He desperately hoped it hadn't been too long, and took off after Rose. 

OoOoOoOo

Rose had nearly made it back to the shelter when she collapsed. The Doctor found her face down on the ground only 10 metres from the entrance. As he drew closer he could hear crying and grunting. At first he thought it was coming from Rose, but then realized it was Herbie, he must have heard Rose coming, or smelled her, but was trapped in the shelter. 

When he reached her, the Doctor knelt beside her. "Rose?" He gently shook her. He nearly gasped when he touched her. She was not her usual temperature, but actually hot to the touch. "Oh Rose, what have you gotten yourself into?" He asked out loud, flipping her over to get a good look at her. She was pale and unconscious, blood matted in her hair. She didn't react to him at all. His eyes landed on her left hand, which was severely swollen and weeping from many little wounds. He knew immediately what was wrong.

In the shelter, Herbie cried louder when he heard the Doctor's voice, and started to struggle with the barriers in between him and his new parents. He clawed and pulled and finally was able to clear a little bear sized hole, which he squeezed through and ran after the Doctor, who had since scooped Rose up in his arms. 

"Keep up little guy, we have to tend to Rose." the Doctor called to the bear behind him. 

Oooo

"Beep...Beep..." an incessant sound woke Rose. Slowly she shifted back out of the white cloud that surrounded her mind. With her eyes still closed she tried to assimilate where she was. For the first time in days she didn't feel something cold around her, no hard ground, and no breeze. She was covered with a light blanket, but was comfortable. For once she was laying on something soft too. She took a chance and cracked her eyes open, but shut them quickly against the harsh light. Then slowly she eased them open. As her eyes adjusted she recognized where she was. She was in the med-bay of the TARDIS. Wait... she was in the TARDIS! She moved to sit up, but was slowed by something on her abdomen. Looking down she could see her very, swollen, very infected hand lying on a pillow in front of her. In her other arm she had an IV. The beeping had come from a heart monitor; she could feel the coolness of the EKG stickers on her chest. 

Her movement stirred something next to her. She turned her head and took in a sight that had been common lately, but not common overall. The Doctor was stretched out in a bed pulled alongside hers. His head popped up when he heard her move and he was on his feet a second later.

"Well there you are!" He exclaimed brightly, though she could tell he was shaking off the last tendrils of sleep too. She could see that he had changed into a fresh brown suit as well as shaved. 

"You got me home." she said quietly.

"I did." he answered, "and a good thing too, you were not doing well." His face took a stern expression. "You, Rose Tyler lied to me."

She looked back at him quizzically. 

"You told me you were fine and you weren't. That is not alright."

Rose looked down at her hand. "I'm sorry, I just... you were so sick, I figured I could wait."

"Rose, promise me something, I need you to tell me that you will never, ever, put me ahead of you again. You could have died."

Rose gave him a little smile. "But I didn't."

"But you could have. Now promise me."

"I can't; its situational. But I promise to try, if I feel like it, that is." She shot him a tongue touched smile. 

He sighed heavily, resting his hands on the bedside. Rose was starting to feel fatigue again, though having him close again felt good. She wanted to take his hand, but her good hand was currently attached to an IV and most likely wouldn't reach, and he was standing next to the infected one. 

"What?" she asked. 

He seemed to have stalled. "I'm just glad you're alright." He bounced on the toes of his feet a little, looking like he had something else to say. Then he blurted out, "Well I have to feed Herbie so..."

"You have him? Where is he? Is he OK?"

The Doctor grinned hugely. "Oh he's having the time of his life. I made him a room with all kinds of places to climb, run around and soft places to sleep. The TARDIS was also able to synthesize some milk for him. I'm going to bring it to him now."

"Can I go?" she asked even as her eyes started to droop. 

He shook his head. "Not yet, I gave you pain medication with your antibiotics. You may not be steady on your feet. Plus you need to rest. I'll take you to see him soon."

Rose desperately wanted to stay awake, but it was becoming hard, still she had questions though. "What about you, Doctor? Are you better?"

His eyes took a kind look. "I'm better, not all the way. I had to sleep when I brought you in, but I'm doing better. You should have seen me pass out after swimming down to her though. I'm sure it was a sight. But a few more days of rest will get me on the right track again." He stopped again and started to fidget. 

Then just as Rose was going to make a remark about his apparent nervousness, exhaustion hit her hard. Her eyes closed against her will and she let out a deep breath. As she relaxed and the last bits of reality slipped away, she felt something curious. She could have sworn she felt a pair of cool lips pressed on her forehead, and then they were gone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: Well, here is the end. I contemplated breaking it into two chapters but I figured some of you may string me up. So it ended up being one mondo chapter. I hope you enjoy it though. I really had fun with this story. I have another story in the cue waiting for a second draft and I am actively writing an AU with the 9th Doctor. If you liked what you saw, give me a follow. 
> 
> I’m also toying with Tumblr, if you want to follow me there I will start posting there too. That way you can send me questions or whatever. And finally, I hope you enjoy this last part. On to the next!

Chapter 7  
When Rose woke again she found herself alone in the med-bay. Her IV bag was a little fuller than it was last time. He must have come in at some point and traded it out. She had no way to know how long she had been out, since there was no ability to tell time on the TARDIS. One thing she did know for sure was that she needed to wee... now. 

Carefully she pulled off the blanket she had been tucked under and slipped out of bed, careful not to dislodge the IV. For a moment she was nervous that he may have changed her clothes, but found she was still wearing the remarkable grubby jeans and hoody she had on before though he had removed her snow pants and parka. She was both repulsed and relieved by it on one hand he didn’t strip her, but on the other she felt positively grungy. 

Her infected hand felt remarkably better too, but was still quite swollen. Luckily it didn't hurt to move it. At first she was a little unsteady, standing for the first time in who knows how long. After a few moments she made her way to the loo in the hallway, pulling her IV pole behind her.

Once finished, she took a few minutes to clean up. She desperately needed a shower and hoped he would let her get one very soon. When she opened the door back to the hallway, she was met with a wide eyed Doctor. 

"Where have you been? Are you alright?" he rushed out, looking her up and down. 

Rose gave him a warm smile. "I'm fine, Doctor, I just needed the loo."

"Are you dizzy at all, do you need help?" he asked, taking her bad hand in his and examining it. 

"I'm fine Doctor, really. I made it here just fine."

"Well come on then, maybe we can take out that IV and switch you to an oral antibiotic. Come with me Miss Tyler!" He looped his arm around her good one and led her back to the med bay. He was certainly peppy given the situation. She idly wondered if holding her was for protection for perhaps he had other motives. He certainly was holding her close by any means. 

He guided her back into the med-bay and got her snuggled back into bed before he went about fussing with her IV. When he was finished and disposed of the fluid bag her turned back to her. "Well, now that you are hydrated, would you like some dinner? I’ll bring you something.”

Rose looked at him questioningly. All of a sudden he was doting on her, not like this was not normal, but usually she was in charge of food, mostly because he always forgot to eat if not prompted. ”I can go to the kitchen…”

“Oh no, just relax. I’ll be right back.” With that he hurried out of the med-bay. Leaving Rose puzzled. 

Rose had just rested back when he bustled back in, tray in hand. It held multiple sandwiches and crisps.

“Well you sure are speedy.” she noted with a smile.

“At your service!” he enthused. He had removed his bed from the room while she had been asleep so he sat on her bed while she ate.

“Why don’t you eat Doctor?” she asked.

“Oh I’m good, you just eat up.”

“I won’t be able to eat all this. Please, join me. You can’t be back to 100% yet.”

“I’m getting there thank you very much.” He bumped shoulders with her. But Rose stared at him until he took a sandwich and took a big bite making her laugh.

“Well no how about that? You’re slowing down. Are you getting full?” She nodded. “Well then what can I help you with next?”

"I'd actually like to get a shower if at all possible. Can I do that?" she asked, still trying to read him. 

"Sure!" he squeaked. "I'll come get you or leave you a note or something."

Rose shook that one off as just weird and headed off to her room.

After taking what will forever be the most wonderful shower ever, Rose dressed in fluffy pyjama bottoms and a hooded sweatshirt before looking around for a note. She found it on the back of her closed bedroom door. That in itself was not a shock; he frequently visited her in her room to check on her and such. On the note were directions to Herbie, complete with a little drawn picture of a smiling bear. Rose giggled and tossed the note in a drawer on her desk for safe keeping. It would be useful should he annoy her someday. She could look back and see that and smile.

Rose made her way to the little bear's new home and carefully cracked open the door. If she thought the sights of the Doctor playing with Herbie before were cute, this by far topped them all. He sat on something that looked like green grass, and the bear was running circles around him as he held a big red ball just out of reach. Then he tossed it, and Herbie shot off after it. When he caught up to it, he would tumble to a stop, and try to grab it with his mouth, then end up picking it up with his front hands. Finally he just swatted it back to the Doctor and ran after it. 

Rose giggled at the sight and both of them looked up at her. The Doctor grinned and Herbie grunted and ran to her. She carefully closed the door behind her just in time to take the squirmy little ball of fur in her arms. It hurt a little to pick him up but his happiness made that all go away. He snuggled up in her arms, sniffing her for a few moments. Then he calmed and let her hold him, content. Rose carried him over to the Doctor, who was still seated. 

"That's quite a reception." he remarked. "He really likes you." 

"Yeah," she answered, now handing the bear off to the Doctor. "It doesn't take much, I fed him and that was pretty much it." She sat next to him as Herbie went to go chase the ball again. 

"Oh it's much more than that, Rose." He said, now taking her hand as they both looked out on the happy bear running around. "He took to you because you were loving and there for him. He didn't have a mother, and honestly, he wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for you. Getting him milk from his mother saved his life."

"I suppose I never thought about it." she said back. 

"And that's not all you did Rose Tyler, you saved me."

"Well I don't kn..." she started. 

"No wait, let me finish." Now he turned to look at her, his brown eyes warm and deep. Unconsciously Rose moved a little closer. The Doctor drew another breath. "Rose, I was closer to death, well regeneration, than you thought. I wasn't willing to admit it at the time, but if you hadn't warmed me and gotten me back, I wouldn't have survived. At least not this me... I'm not sure how you would have felt about that."

"Are you kidding me? Losing you again? Not an option, Doctor. I've had two of you and that is enough. Plus I like this one, you I mean. Not that I didn't like the other you, but I've grown... fond of this one. I don't want another change." She gave him her tongue touched smile and he reciprocated. 

"Well that's a relief." he said, stretching out backwards to lie on his back. Without warning he was promptly pounced on by Herbie. He then grabbed the little bear and sat up, scratching his ears and holding him close. The bear squirmed free and ran away. 

Rose was still looking at him, not sure what he meant and was about to ask him just that when he jumped to his feet. Whatever he had been thinking was long gone as he strode over to a little station on the wall where he picked up a bottle similar to one that you would feed a baby with. "Come here Herbie," he called. 

The bear, which had been rooting around in some simulated bushes, perked up at the sound of his name and ran over to the Doctor expectantly. 

"Rose, can you do me a favor and feed him? I need to... do... something." The Doctor' halting speak piqued her interest. 

"Uh sure," she answered, joining them. The Doctor handed off the bottle to her and directed her to a soft spot a few feet away. It was recessed and looked like it was made with some sort of fur. 

Before she could ask, he answered her question. "I set it up like he's sleeping with his mother. He sleeps much better now, and for longer. You can sit here and he'll just climb up on your lap. Once he's asleep you can just set him in there and he's out. Though he just slept for a long while. We’ll see.”

"You sound like you have some experience." Rose noted. 

"Oh we've done this a few times haven't we boy?" he directed towards the bear. Herbie was now starting to whine at the sight of the bottle. 

Rose sat down and helped him start to drink. Right away she could feel him relaxing in her lap. 

She leaned back on the wall. "What happens to him now Doctor? His mum was huge; we can't have a full size bear hanging around the TARDIS."

"Oh no, the males are even bigger than the females."

"So what do we do?"

"I have already made provisions for that. It’s actually quite lucky. This species of Mityrs frequently pick up other cubs and adopt them for lack of a better word. In fact some of them will fight over an abandoned cub not unlike female penguins on Earth. As it turns out, the maternal instinct is very strong with them. In fact, I've already found a suitable mother for him. I just wanted him to get a little stronger and rested before we take him. Plus I thought you would want some time with him." 

Rose looked down at the little bear in her lap. He had just drifted off to sleep, only sucking on the bottle once and a while. She carefully took it from his mouth. He made a few little sucking noises but didn't wake. "I'm going to miss him."

"I figured as much. But we only have limited time. He will grow quickly. He will double in size in about thirty days. He'll be a master of mayhem before we know it."

Rose looked around at the various toys and things strewn about. "He already is, I can't imagine him any bigger."

"Oh yeah." He trailed off again. He had been doing that a lot lately, like he wanted to say something and couldn't find the words. That in itself was perplexing. But she could wait while he struggled now that they were home safe. 

The Doctor’s rapid intake of air startled her. Even Herbie stirred a little bit. 

"Rose, can you stay here with...him for a little bit? I have something for you and him, more like somewhere, but I need a few moments. I'll come back for you. Is that ok?"

"Sure," she answered questioningly, hoping he would elaborate. He didn't. Instead he hurriedly walked out, glancing over his shoulder at her and shooting her a quick smile, and then he was gone. 

Rose shook her head. He was being weird. He had been since she woke up. He had something up his sleeve, and there was no way to tell just what that was. Leaning back even more she rested her eyes. Herbie was a warm weight and lulled her into a light sleep. 

She didn't know how long she slept, but she woke to the gentle shaking of her shoulder. It was the Doctor. Once she opened her eyes, he gently picked up the sleeping bear and cradled him in his arms. Herbie cried briefly, but never woke. The Doctor used his free hand to pull Rose up. 

Now standing, she faltered initially. "Are you ok?" he whispered, quickly sliding his arm around her to keep her upright. 

"My leg is asleep." she responded, placing a hand on his chest both for stabilization and because it just felt right since he had such a tight grip on her.

Realizing just how close that was, they both blushed and separated, and though he kept his hand on her waist to be sure she was good. She didn't protest, rather reached back and took his free hand. "Where to?" she asked.

The Doctor broke into a manic grin. "Oh you'll see."

OoOoOoOo

The Doctor practically dragged Rose through the halls to the console room. He held Herbie firmly in one arm. When he got to the doors he stopped, bringing her up next to him. He put his hand on the door turning to her, his eyes shining. "So Rose Tyler, we never finished what we were doing before we were so rudely interrupted by that avalanche. So I thought that maybe we would try again." He opened the door with a flourish and motioned her to stop out. 

Curious, Rose stepped out, and then she let out a long breath. What was in front of her was breath taking. It was the much like landscape that they had landed in, but it was full of vibrant flowers, swaying green grass, a bright blue sky, and it even had a gentle warm breeze. Mostly though, there was no snow. Rose turned back to him expressionless. When she did his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I'm sorry Rose I thought you'd..."

"I love it!" she broke in. "Where are we? How did you do it?" She ran back and hugged him careful not to squash Herbie.

"It's marvelous! ' she enthused. “Is this what we were waiting for? Are we back on um… Alta…”

“Xalta 5? Why yes we are.” 

“But why? When is this? It doesn’t look like quite where we were before.”

“It’s not. I actually had to do a fair bit of research to find it. The Mityrs are a territorial creature. I needed to find another mother suitable for Herbie. So we moved a few kilometers away and I found a good match for him. When I got here I heard her crying. It seems her little one died. It was younger than Herbie and looked like it might have drowned. Anyway, she is pining for her baby. Introducing Herbie now would be just about perfect. Can you see her? She’s just on the other side of the meadow. ”

Rose squinted but her eye caught movement and she saw a large bear about 100 meters away. She was about the size of Herbie’s mother but lighter in color. “But that’s so sad, Doctor. I mean it’s good too. He needs a mother and she needs a baby.”

“It’s perfect.” He shifted Herbie in his arms, causing the little bear to pop open his eyes, look around and sniff. Moments later he started to wiggle. 

“He can smell home I think.” the Doctor said. “Here, hold him for a bit so you can say goodbye. That mother will catch his scent soon. 

Rose reached out and took Herbie. He calmed when she scratched him behind the ears, but started to whine. “Ok little guy, you be good. I’ll miss you. She gave him a kiss on the head, and the Doctor took him back. Rose reluctantly let go of the little furry bear.

She could hear him murmuring to Herbie as he walked him a little ways away. Finally the Doctor sat him on the ground and patted him on the head. “Here you go little guy. Go meet your mama.” He gave Herbie a little push in the direction of the mother. 

Herbie turned around and looked longingly at Rose. It pulled her heart strings to see him. Her vision blurred with tears as she watched him. It was like she was sending him away. He was the little guy who kept her going for those days when she would have had no hope. He had become part of her life. Seeing him go was crushing. She stifled a sob as the Doctor re-directed the bear to face the meadow. 

Herbie took one tentative step forward, sniffing. A little gust of wind hit him and he jumped, then started sniffing harder. He kept his little head in the air and took a few more steps. Rose wiped her eyes and looked over to the mother bear. She smelled the air too. She had come about twenty meters closer. Herbie took a few more hurried steps and hopped up on a rock, giving him a better view or the field. When he did, he started to almost shake. He started to cry and jump around. The mother bear’s ears perked up and she looked directly at him. 

Carefully the Doctor slunk back. Herbie was in front of him now and concentrating on the bear closing in on him. The Doctor made it to Rose and tugged her gently to the TARDIS. 

They were now about twenty meteres from Herbie. He still was on the rock, wagging his little bum as the mother got closer. He cried and yipped to get her attention, and they could hear her making similar sounds to him. When she was close, he suddenly froze and looked back at the Doctor and Rose and let out a long whine. Then he jumped off the rock, and bounded towards the other bear. 

When he got to her, they both spent a lot of time sniffing each other before the mother gently butted Herbie with her head and licked his face a few times before she started off though the meadow with him happily bouncing along beside her. The Doctor quietly shut the TARDIS door and ran to the monitor to watch the display, pulling Rose behind him. 

They both leaned over the display, now showing Herbie and the mother bear lounging under a tree. Herbie was rooting around in the grass and they could see the mother grunting at him. Soon Herbie turned and came up next to where she was laying on her side. The Doctor gripped Rose’s arm just as the little bear started to nurse from his new mother. “Oh!” Rose gasped, wiping away a tear. “She’s accepted him. Look at that.”

The Doctor wound his arm around her waist and pulled her tight. “He’s safe now. It’s a perfect fit. If she hadn’t taken him I would have gone after him and we would have to have figured out something.”

“But he’s good now?” she asked, dabbing her eyes. 

“He’s better than good now.” He pushed her hands off and wiped her tears away.

“I’m really going to miss that little guy.”

“Me too. But it’s time to go. He needs to be with her now. She’ll take care of him.” With that he took her head in his hands and looked earnestly at her. 

In spite of herself, Rose blushed. "What?" she asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Hardly," he answered, letting go and fiddling with something on the console. 

There was a long silence while he worked the console, so much so that Rose started to get anxious. He normally wasn’t like this. She was about to ask if he was okay when he took in a deep breath as if steeling himself. 

"Rose, I know I've thanked you, but you really don't know what you did for me."

"You would have done the same." She smiled back. She had settled herself on the jump seat and went to stand again when he caught her.

"I'm not done." He took another breath, looking away and swallowing hard. Rose could see that he was wrestling with something. It was a big something too. She didn't feel scared though, not like he needed to leave her or something, it was more like he was about to tell her something. 

Still not saying anything, he reached over and took her bad hand in his and caressed it gently. It didn't hurt at all, but rather felt good, his cold hand tracing it. It was quite soothing. Rose didn't know what to say, but felt like she had to say something...anything to ease his struggle with whatever it was, but nothing came.

Finally he looked up into her eyes. She was very surprised to see that his were wet. When he drew a breath this time it was more ragged. “I’ve been around a really long time. I have tried to recall, but I’ve not sure anyone has ever worked so hard to save my life before. Oh, I have had help, but you really saved me, and saved yourself. I don’t know how to say just how much that means to me.”

Rose blushed. “It was nothing.”

“No it was something, a huge something. It made me see….” He stopped and swallowed hard. “It made me see just what you are made of, and I’m not sure just how to say this. I erm… I like it.”

Rose squirmed under his gaze. He hadn’t made her uncomfortable, not in the least. But hearing him pour out his feelings was something she never would have expected. This was a man who never let anything on no matter what. She forced herself to say something. 

“I’m glad I could help you. Sooooo… where to next?”

He still had her hand in his, but looked over his shoulder at the console for a long moment. She was giving him an out and he knew it. He could just let go, move back to the controls and the moment would be over. Yet he still held on. When he eventually turned back he looked stricken. 

“Doctor, what’s wrong? Is something the matter?” Rose reached up with her good hand and touched his face. He quickly covered her hand with his. 

“No, I just…” It took less than a second. He went from truly frightened to very soft, but eager. “Can I… can I kiss you Rose?” he asked in halting, wavering tone.

Rose was momentarily stunned and unfortunately that also led to being at a complete loss for words. In those few moments where she didn’t know what to say he blinked, let go of both of her hands and stepped back, turning around and immediately throwing levers on the console. He talked over his shoulder. “Right, so where to go? Oh I know, there is a lovely market on a planet called Pice. They sell something just like apples, but they are as big as your head. You should see them!”

“Doctor…”

“Oh and forgot they have the equivalent of fireflies that come out at night. It’s magical.”

“Doctor stop.”

“I met this man there once. He had a firefly hatchery. He had to help them out of their teeny little eggs sometimes.” Rose slid off the jump seat and came up behind him.

She reached out and spun him around. Before he could even react, her lips were on his. It was a short kiss. Its intention was to stop him more than anything. She held him by the shoulders for that time and then took a step away, hands still on him. 

At first Rose didn’t know what to think. His face was unreadable. Then a smirk spread across his face. “Why Rose Tyler, I quite liked that.” 

“I’m glad ‘cos I liked it too. Doctor, you needn’t be afraid to tell me your feelings. I can handle it.”

He smiled again. “You certainly proved that you can handle anything didn’t you?” He closed the gap between them again, sliding his hands around her waist. 

“I want you to be honest with me.” she whispered into his ear. You can tell me things. You can’t scare me off.”

The Doctor pulled Rose closer. “I don’t think running you off is an option at this point. And perhaps it’s time to let you in on a few things Timelord.”

“Oh yeah?” she lifted her face to his, tilting her head up and beaming her tongue touched smile at him. 

“Yeah.” he breathed. Gently he put his lips to hers. She welcomed his touch and leaned in, allowing him to explore further. Soon they were locked together their bodies moving in a gentle dance. His hands were gently moving up her sides. His touch was feather light, leaving her loving it yet wanting more at the same time. 

They stood there holding, touching, locked to each other or minutes, but to Rose and the Doctor it could have been years, each lost in their embrace. He held her so tight and she never wanted to let go, not ever. 

When they parted, he pressed his forehead to hers, both of them out of breath but both smiling.

“Oh I liked that even more.” he said, not moving. 

“I know.” Then quite unexpectedly, she yawned. Then pulled back, mortified. He had her tight enough that she didn’t get far. 

“I’m so sorry! I swear that was amazing, I just…”

He hadn’t moved. His hand was still where it had landed, splayed on her back. “Rose, you’ve been through a lot. I could use a kip myself. What do you say we…”

“Together?”

“Only if you want.” he breathed, lips brushing hers. 

“Oh I want.” she countered lightly kissing him back. 

“Well then, shall we?” He broke apart from her, took a step back and wiggled is fingers for her to take his hand, which she did gleefully. 

“Your place or mine?” he asked, now walking down the ramp to the corridor. 

“Mine. I don’t want to roll over on some project you have been tinkering on and stab myself.”

He laughed. “You’re probably right.” 

The walked on in silence for a moment, her snugged up against him. “Uh Doctor?” she asked as they got to her door.

“Hmm?”

“Just how much sleeping do you intend to do?”

He reached for the door handle and grinned conspiratorially. “That’s entirely up to you Rose Tyler.” With that he led her into her bedroom.


End file.
